Response to TGPF report vital to recover confidence

Response to TGPF report vital to recover confidence

JAKARTA (JP): Human rights activists and the international
community are warning that the government's response to a joint
fact-finding team's report on the May riots will make or break
its quest to restore confidence.

Known as TGPF, the team released on Tuesday its report, which
included a finding implicating members and elements of the Armed
Forces in the riots.

Ita F. Nadia of the Volunteers for Humanity appreciated the
team's efforts and judged the results the best that could be
expected given its limitations. "The important thing is how the
government responds to the recommendations."

One of eight recommendations on further investigation into who
was behind the violence "(will stand) as the government's
accountability to the public, given its failure to guarantee
public safety".

She believed it was the only way to restore both domestic and
international public confidence. "Failure to do so would end in
more widespread distrust toward the government," she told The
Jakarta Post.

Ita added that victims' families were counting on enforcement
of the recommendation for protection of witnesses and victims who
still felt unsafe.

Volunteers for Humanity, which provides outreach and
counseling to riot victims, was the first organization to reveal
that gang rapes occurred during the riots. Volunteers put the
number of rapes at 168 as of July, while the report listed 66
during the May riots. Ita said Volunteers attributed the
discrepancy also to the difference in verifying the assaults.

Munir, coordinator of the independent Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the report would
supplement reports of other fact-finding teams, but doubted there
would be additional efforts from the authorities to solve the
rape cases. The government, he added, "doesn't seem to be
responding seriously to the report".

He believed those responsible should be tried, and advocated
that the government establish therapy programs for riot victims
and the political activists who were abducted earlier this year
but subsequently freed.

Response

On Thursday, the United States and the People's Republic of
China responded to the report by urging the Indonesian government
to carry through with its recommendations.

Both were among the countries in which protests were staged
following the riots. The Indonesian government was accused of
inaction against racial violence.

AFP quoted U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin as
praising TGPF for its "credible, balanced report under the
difficult circumstances" which included "anonymous death threats"
against members.

In a statement, Rubin said it was "crucial in order to restore
credibility and confidence that the ... government implement the
team's recommendations, including further investigation of
military leaders and others alleged to be involved in fomenting
or participating in the violence".

The Indonesian government was "strongly urged" to "take steps
to prevent intimidation and threats of violence against
investigators, witnesses and their families".

Rubin said the U.S. government found the "85 acts of violence
(documented in the report) targeted against women, including
rapes, torture, sexual assaults and sexual harassment,
reprehensible and unacceptable".

He added: "Those responsible for all these acts should be held
accountable."

"We are of the view that the Indonesian government has the
responsibility to thoroughly investigate and handle the relevant
issues and prevent similar accidents from happening again,"
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzhao was quoted as
saying by the wire service at a biweekly news conference in
Beijing.

Zhu said China as a friendly neighbor hoped Indonesia "can
maintain social stability and that Indonesian people of all
ethnic groups including Chinese can enjoy equal rights and live
in harmony".

The team's recommendations also included the need to further
probe the details of a meeting on May 14 at the Army's Strategic
Reserve Command (Kostrad) headquarters, as well as the possible
role of then Kostrad chief Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto in the
riots.

Prabowo's younger brother, businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo,
characterized the early evening Kostrad gathering of 25 people as
a "very normal meeting". He said on Wednesday it was held at the
initiative of human rights advocate and lawyer Adnan Buyung
Nasution. Prabowo was discharged from the military in August for
involvement in the abductions of activists.

A source told the Post recently that earlier in the afternoon
of May 14, Prabowo failed to meet with Achmad Tirtosudiro, leader
of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), at
ICMI's Central Jakarta office, who he thought might be able to
issue a pacifying statement to the people.

The reports said the then Jakarta Military commander, Maj.
Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, should also be held responsible for the
lax security in the capital during the riots which killed more
than 1,000 people. (anr/01/byg)