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)