Rights commission to question govt on July 27 riots

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights plans to question the government about the July 27 riots which occurred in Jakarta last year, following official statements that proclaimed the case was closed.

Commission deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman said yesterday that the topic would be raised during the periodic meeting the commission holds with Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman.

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 20.

The commission would like to know the government's position on the July 27 affair, Marzuki said.

The government was sending conflicting messages, saying on one occasion that the majority of problems had been resolved, but on another, giving the impression they were still pursuing the matter, he said.

Soesilo said last week that the controversy over the July 27 riots should end, while Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. said the case was closed.

Marzuki pointed out, however, that a letter from Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono to the commission did not give the impression the government considered the case closed.

The commission in October published a report on its findings on the July 27 affair and its background. It ascertained that five people were killed, 149 were injured and 23 were missing.

Marzuki said yesterday that seven of the missing people have since been accounted for, bringing the number of missing people to 16.

He called for greater government efforts to prevent a repetition of incidents in which people vanish and are never accounted for.

The commission in its October report criticized the government for meddling in the internal affairs of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), and said this contributed to the riots.

The July 27 riots were triggered by the forced takeover of PDI's headquarters, which was occupied by supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri, by people claiming to be supporters of Soerjadi.

The minority party split into two camps following a government-backed congress in Medan, North Sumatra, in June last year which removed Megawati and installed Soerjadi as chairman.

Megawati has since sued Soerjadi and the government, demanding the court to annul the congress and all its decisions.

Marzuki said he also intended to question Soesilo over his statement last week that media should stop referring to "Megawati's faction" as opposed to "Soerjadi's faction" because this was confusing the public. (05)