Rights body reveals new missing persons list

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights revised its figure yesterday for the number of people missing following the rioting that rocked Jakarta on July 27.

Commission member Albert Hasibuan told reporters that as of yesterday, 30 people are still missing, a significant decrease from the organization's earlier figure of 74.

"After thoroughly cross-checking reports and information we have been receiving, we conclude that there are still 30 persons missing," he said.

He added that the number of casualties in the incident, which erupted following the forced takeover of the disputed Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters, remains the same: five dead and 149 injured.

Albert insisted that the new figure is still provisional, and there is a possibility it could drop further by the time the commission holds its plenary session on Oct. 10.

Four days after that the commission is due to hold its bimonthly meeting with ministers and senior officials under the coordination of Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman.

Albert promised that the commission will announce its final findings to the press after its plenary session and before the meeting with the ministers.

"I guarantee we will remain independent when we announce our final findings," he said. "You can see that we are independent by the fact that we're disclosing the results of our investigation to the press before reporting it to the government."

Albert also insisted that the commission has enough evidence to back up the revised findings. "We have records from individuals and the overthrown PDI central board of people who have still not returned to their homes," he said.

He reiterated that the commission guarantees the confidentiality of the reports.

The commission announced the long awaited results of its probe into the July 27 riots in the capital on Aug. 31. The investigation began on July 28.

The raid on the party office involved supporters of the new PDI chairman Soerjadi, who ousted Megawati Soekarnoputri in a government-sanctioned congress held in Medan, North Sumatra, in June.

Commission officials said they obtained their data on the deaths and injuries mostly from hospital sources and cross- checking with witnesses.

They refused to explain the circumstances of the deaths, injuries and disappearances but stressed that they were not being pressured by a third party.

The military had earlier reported that four people died in the incident that prompted the authorities to clamp down on activists they suspected of inciting the unrest. However, no mention was made of anyone being missing. (imn)