Rights abuse in Ujungpandang

Rights abuse in Ujungpandang

Strong indications have been found of human rights violations
during the protests by students in Ujungpandang. That, in part,
was the gist of the statement made by the Secretary-General of
the National Commission on Human Rights, Prof. Dr. Baharuddin
Lopa, before his departure from Ujungpandang for Jakarta on
Friday.

The previous day, the Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs, Soesilo Soedarman, appealed to all parties
concerned to be patient. "There will be no cover-up. If in the
ongoing investigations errors are found in the application of
(anti-riot) procedures by security officers, measures will be
taken against those who are guilty," he said in Jakarta. The
minister, apparently, found it necessary to appeal for patience
because demonstrations of solidarity with the Ujungpandang
students, questioning the handling of the case, broke out in a
number of places. In Bandung, clashes occurred between students
and security personnel. In several other cities similar
demonstrations also occurred.

Basically, the many actions of solidarity flared because of
the prevailing disarray of information. The official Armed Forces
statement said three students died because they drowned when they
were chased by pursuing officers. This explanation was apparently
seen as premature. As a result, rumors began to circulate about
the way in which the security officers tried to control the
students, about armored cars and troops invading the campuses and
acts of violence by security officers that resulted in
fatalities.

It is this confusion which needs to be immediately cleared up.
The statement by the Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs that measures would be taken against whoever was
found guilty is a good start. There has to be no cover-up. Only
by giving a candid explanation can the emotion-provoking issues
be dealt with.

There is another lesson contained in this incident: how risky
it is to try to put down a protest by force. Many previous cases
have already demonstrated the truth of this. Violence always
invites more violence. At the very least expressions of
dissatisfaction can easily spread. The Marsinah case and the
Nipah incident should have taught us not to repeat the same
mistake again. Therefore, we should all try to restrain ourselves
and let the authorities conduct a thorough investigation of this
incident.

-- Republika, Jakarta