Rights commission condemns treatment of Marsinah suspects
Rights commission condemns treatment of Marsinah suspects
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights says it
has found evidence of rights violations against the people being
tried for the murder of labor activist Marsinah, including
indications of torture.
The commission, in one of its most critical statements, urged
the authorities yesterday to look into their charges and punish
the responsible parties.
The two-page statement, signed by chairman Ali Said, was
careful to avoid naming any particular agency in the government
or the military as responsible.
"You know the story," said Baharuddin Lopa, the commission's
secretary general, who announced the findings of the team looking
into the murder trials, which have been beset with controversy.
"It is not within our power to announce the names of any
agency which has abused human rights," he said when pressed by
reporters to name the offending agencies. "But we will soon send
the results of the investigation to the concerned parties."
The commission launched its investigation after receiving
complaints from the suspects of torture that elicited false
confessions. They also said the court has not treated their case
fairly and that the hearings are designed to ensure a guilty
verdict as part of an official coverup.
Nine are being tried for the murder, all executives and
security guards of PT Citra Putra Surya, the watchmaking company
in Sidoarjo, East Java, where Marsinah worked. The lone woman
defendant has already been sentenced to seven months imprisonment
as an accessory to murder. All the trials are held in Surabaya
and Sidoarjo.
An Army captain is also facing a military tribunal in
connection with Marsinah's death.
Irregularities
The Commission said in the statement that it found
irregularities in the way the suspects of the murder were
arrested and treated, including the fact that they were not
accompanied by lawyers during interrogation.
The commission "also found indications of various forms of
torture, physical and mental."
"The information was obtained after interviewing a number of
interrogators, both at the Brawijaya Military Command and the
East Java Police, and the suspects and their lawyers."
The statement said that "other people" were possibly involved
in the murder.
"The commission appeals to all agencies involved to stop these
abuses of human rights and to question those who may have been
involved from the initial process of the investigation and punish
them if there is sufficient evidence."
The commission also urged the authorities to look into the
possibility that others, besides the suspects, may have been
involved in the murder.
It also found unwarranted intervention by the local military
agency in the affairs of PT Citra Putra Surya, apparently
confirming earlier suggestions that the local military chief took
the initiative to fire striking workers, which led to further
labor protests and ultimately Marsinah's murder.
Marsinah's badly mutilated body was found on May 9, 1993 days
after she led a strike. She was last seen alive at the local
military command.
The suspects were abducted by security officials from their
homes in October and their whereabouts were made known two weeks
after their disappearance, after the police formally issued
warrants for their arrest.
Allegations that their rights had been trampled only surfaced
during the trials, as one by one they retracted the statements of
guilt they made to their interrogators, saying they were
subjected to unbearable torture.
Some claimed their genitals were electrocuted or that they
were forced to drink urine. One suspect said he was forced to mop
the floor with his tongue, another said he had his toes place
under the leg of a chair where his investigator subsequently sat.
One of the suspects said he was prepared to confess to not one
but twenty murders if it would stop the pain. (prs/emb)