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)