Rights abuses found in Ujungpandang
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights announced yesterday that there were rights abuses during the clashes between security officers and students last month in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.
Commission deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman said that after four days of observation and discussion with related parties, the body found "violations of rights which led to the death of three students, scores of injuries, and much vandalism."
In a press briefing, the commission announced those who died were Syaiful Bia, Andi Sultan Iskandar and Tasrif Burhanuddin of the Indonesian Moslem University.
The students reportedly died because they plunged into the Pampang River while trying to evade security officers who had entered their campus during the recent bus fare hike protests .
Marzuki said the commission would wait until after the military investigation team finished its work before announcing "the perpetrators, the kind and gravity of violations" committed in the incident.
The commission also called yesterday for "respect for rectors as the sole authority on campuses." The statement was made apparently in reference to the military's preliminary findings that troops forced their way into the campuses despite the objections of the universities' administrators.
If security and order measures are called for during in-campus demonstrations, it's the police, not the army, who should have the priority to enter the campus, Marzuki pointed out.
Around 10,000 students of state and private-owned universities and colleges in Ujungpandang took to the streets in a wave of demonstrations which began on April 22. They were protesting the public bus fare increase from Rp 300 (US$ 13 cents) to Rp 500.
The students reportedly went on the rampage during the demonstrations. They set up roadblocks, vandalized buses and other public property, and pelted riot officers with stones.
The protests soon turned into clashes when security officers entered the campuses, chasing students with rattan sticks and making arrests.
The regional military command and the leader of its investigation team have admitted that some of their members "erred" and resorted to violence.
"We call on everybody to exercise self-restraint and not to issue provocative statements which may cause public disintegration," Marzuki said.
The government has also appealed to all parties, including the university students, to refrain from engaging in any activities that could disturb peace and order.
"Demonstrations are not banned, but they should be conducted in an orderly manner," according to Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman.
Students, however, continued with their protests. In Ujungpandang, hundreds of students held yet another demonstration yesterday, this time in a show of solidarity toward their dead colleagues. In Yogyakarta, Central Java, some 500 students held a similar demonstration.
The students in Ujungpandang called on the Armed Forces (ABRI) to be consistent with a "peace agreement" recently signed by the military, students, universities, religious figures, community leaders and government officials.
The document states that all breaches of law will be dealt with legally without use of force, it expresses regrets the deaths and injuries sustained in the incident, and calls for restraint from all sides. (20/swe/har/imn)