Rights body reveals new missing persons list
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)