Rights abuses found in Ujungpandang

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)