Rights body says govt has not ignored report

JAKARTA (JP): Baharuddin Lopa of the National Commission on Human Rights strove to alleviate yesterday suspicions that the government has ignored the body's report and recommendations on the July 27 riots in Jakarta.

"There's no way the government would ignore such an important report," Lopa told a delegation from the ousted central board of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) here yesterday.

"The report concerns not only political matters, but also legal problems. So, let's think positively about the government. We have to be optimistic that the government will follow up the report," he said.

Lopa met yesterday with Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno and Alex Litaay, respectively the deputy chairman and the secretary- general of the board under Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was ousted last June in a congress in Medan, North Sumatra, by Soerjadi.

The delegation included Megawati loyalists Haryanto Taslam and I Gusti Ngurah Sara.

The delegation asked whether the government had followed up the rights body's recommendation that it investigate Soerjadi for possible involvement in the takeover of the disputed party headquarters, an incident which later snowballed into the full- scale riots which left at least five dead and 23 missing.

The delegation also presented the rights commission with a copy of their letter protesting the General Elections Institute's endorsement of the provisional list of legislature candidates submitted by Soerjadi.

Megawati has not only strongly protested the endorsement but has demanded the General Elections Institute drop Soerjadi's list and take hers instead. Chairman of the General Elections Institute Moch. Yogie S.M., also Minister of Home Affairs, has rejected Megawati's call.

Alex told Lopa, who was accompanied by commission members Marzuki Darusman and Soetandyo Wignjosoebroto, he was "worried about whether the world would see the May election as credible and of good quality" if the government refused Soerjadi's list.

Lopa said the commission would do its best to encourage the opposing PDI camps to reconcile "for the sake of the 30 million party supporters, most of whom are youths left confused by the troubled party leadership".

Alex and his colleagues criticized the government, accusing it of meddling in the party's internal affairs to such an extent that it was unlikely the two camps would reconcile.

"If the two opposing camps agreed to reconcile, nothing could stop them," Lopa retorted.

The National Commission on Human Rights issued in October its evaluation of the July 27 riots which differed markedly with the official version. It criticized the government for meddling in PDI affairs and said this had contributed to the eruption of the violence.

The commission said that in one of the five corpses, fragments of bullets were found. This contrasted with the military's assertion that not a single bullet had been fired when troops were deployed to contain the unrest.

The commission also said members of the security forces were involved in the violent takeover of the PDI headquarters from Megawati Soekarnoputri supporters.

The commission then urged the government to investigate all parties responsible for the riots, including Soerjadi who had ordered the takeover.

The government has said four people were killed but it has had no reports or evidence of their being any missing people.

The government has blamed the riot on the Democratic People's Party (PRD), an organization mainly composed of youth and student activists, and likened to the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party by the Armed Forces.

Several PRD members, along with labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan, are currently on trial for alleged subversive activities and speeches. The prosecutors, however, have failed to link them directly to the July 27 rioting. (08)