Soesilo doubts rights body's report on riots

Soesilo doubts rights body's report on riots

JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
Security Soesilo Soedarman said he doubted a recent report from
the National Commission on Human Rights which stated that 74
people were missing after the July 27 riots.

Speaking to journalists before a monthly cabinet meeting with
President Soeharto yesterday, Soesilo said he was "really
surprised (by the report on) the missing people".

The human rights commission's provisional report on casualties
from the July 27 riots said that five people had died, 149 were
injured and 74 were still missing.

The government has reported that four people died and 28 were
injured in the riots. It has not mentioned anything about missing
people.

Soesilo said he was not the only one who doubted the report.
"Even the Commission itself is still in doubt (over whether the
74 people are really missing)," he said. "Starting today, they
will check (the report on missing people) again."

Soesilo pledged yesterday that the authorities would help the
commission's investigation, if asked.

On those reported missing, he said, "It's possible that people
who were said to be missing wandered off to other places."

"I call on the people not to react to the report of missing
people with suspicion," said Soesilo. "We have no intention of
covering this information up."

On Tuesday, the chief of the Armed Forces (ABRI)
sociopolitical affairs, Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, said that people
should not waste their time and energy worrying about the figures
presented in the commission's report.

The deputy chairman of the human rights commission, Marzuki
Darusman, has joined others in criticizing the government for not
announcing the number of people missing. "Why didn't the
government ever mention those missing? It's as if it didn't take
any interest in those people," he was quoted by AFP as saying.

The commission plans to continue its investigation and
announce its final findings later this week.

In Semarang, Central Java, commission member Muladi said
yesterday that the commission may lose its credibility if it
failed to clearly explain what has happened to the missing
people.

"The commission has to answer to both the Indonesian and the
international communities on how such a great number of people
could go missing," he said.

The riots broke out after the forced take-over of the
Indonesian Democratic Party's (PDI) headquarters on Jl.
Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, by supporters of the party's new
chairman Soerjadi. The headquarters were occupied by supporters
of Megawati Soekarnoputri, who lost the PDI leadership in a
government-sanctioned congress in Medan in June.

The authorities have blamed a small youth group, the
Democratic People's Party (PRD), for the riots, accusing its
members of being communists and trying to topple the government.

Questioning

Attorney General Singgih said yesterday that his office was
still questioning ten PRD activists accused of subversion. The 10
are being held at the detention centers of the Attorney General's
Office and the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office.

"The questioning has begun to show results," he said, but did
not elaborate. "The three-month deadline set to complete dossiers
on the suspects (can be met) depending on the witnesses' and
suspects' testimonies."

Singgih said his office was planning to summon more witnesses,
including Ali Sadikin from the Petisi 50 group of government
critics and PDI chairman Soerjadi.

Senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad is also to be questioned as
a witness in the subversion cases being built against PRD
chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko, labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan and
other activists.

"Questioning is being conducted in accordance with the law,"
he said. "Those people are being summoned in their personal
capacity, not as leaders of any non-governmental organizations."

"The number of suspects in this subversion case may increase,
or decrease depending on the investigation," he said. (swe/har)