Rights body handles college dispute

Rights body handles college dispute

SEMARANG, Central Java: The National Commission on Human
Rights will enter the flap at Satya Wacana Christian University
in Salatiga now that the prolonged conflict is showing no sign of
letting up.

Five commission members are scheduled to visit the campus on
Oct. 19 to collect information on the row between students and
academicians which began with the dismissal of scholar Arief
Budiman last October.

The commission members are Prof. Muladi, Roekmini
Koesoemoastoeti, Bambang Soegiarto, Clementino dos Reis Amaral,
and Asmara Nababan.

Muladi, who is also a rector at Diponegoro University,
revealed the commission's plan yesterday to a number of Satya
Wacana staff lecturers and students who came to him with a
complaint about the dispute.

"The commission will seek facts about the possibility that
there have been violations of human rights on campus," Muladi
said as quoted by Antara. "We'll speak to each of the conflicting
parties."

Besides Arief, more than a dozen other lecturers have been
dismissed by the Satya Wacana rector. (swe)