PPP criticizes use of violence in Ujungpandang

JAKARTA (JP): More student activists in Java and Sulawesi took to the streets yesterday, protesting the military's use of violence to end the recent demonstrations in Ujungpandang which led to the death of three students.

In Jakarta, about 30 students from Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, took their protest to the United Development Party (PPP) faction in the House of Representatives, where they were received with sympathy.

The party's legislators criticized the army for using armored vehicles in their effort to deter the rampaging students. They deplored the fatalities and injuries that resulted in the riot.

Aisyah Aminy, one of the Moslem-oriented party's senior legislators, said the use of armored vehicles on the campus was particularly deplorable.

"The authorities should have used a more persuasive approach instead," said Aisyah, who chairs House Commission I in charge of security and defense.

Around 10,000 students from universities in Ujungpandang marched down the streets on April 22, demanding that the mayor cancel the public transportation fare hike.

The demonstration, which the students kept up for several days, developed into a riot as students blocked roads, burned tires and pelted vehicles with stones. They later became locked in clashes with the military.

So virulent was the army's reaction that it not only sent in dozens of security officers in riot gear but also mobilized armored vehicles to fight the demonstrators.

Dozens of students were injured in the clashes.

Lt. Gen. Soeyono, the Armed Forces' general affairs chief, claimed that the three demonstrators died after plunging into a river to avoid arrest. But the general's explanation has raised more questions than answers among the students.

In Bandung, police and troops used water canons to disperse thousands of students of the Bandung Institute of Technology demonstrating about the same issue. They managed to stop the demonstrators from marching to the city's Monumen Perjuangan.

The students waved black banners to symbolize their grief about the death of their Ujungpandang colleagues. They also carried an effigy of the late Gen. Soedirman, the founding father of the Armed Forces, to remind the military of its commitment to protect the people.

"We demand that the National Commission on Human Rights conduct an independent investigation," a protester said.

At the institute's main gate, the students found their way blocked by troops with two armored vehicles. The protesters dispersed after the authorities hit them with sticks. No serious injuries or arrests were reported.

Harsh treatment was also reportedly meted out to students grouped in the Student Solidarity for Democracy who staged a similar protest yesterday in Surakarta, Central Java. They were forcibly dispersed by riot police.

For diametrically opposed reasons, students and drivers of public mini-buses also marched down the street of Ujungpandang yesterday, Antara news agency reported.

The students staged demonstrations in the streets, waving banners, expressing their mourning for their dead and wounded colleagues.

The pete-pete drivers were demanding that the mayor go ahead with its plan to raise the disputed transport fares.

Unlike last week, no troops were on the streets in Ujungpandang. Only police officers were called in to maintain order, the report said.

Pete-pete drivers parked on Jl. Sultan Alauddin, the city's main street, and stopped their colleagues to join their action. No incidents were reported. (pan/har/ahy)