UN given the go-ahead to observe student protests

SEMARANG (JP): Minister of Justice Muladi said here yesterday that the United Nations could send representatives to monitor the waves of student protests in Indonesia, but their presence should only be as observers.

Speaking to reporters, Muladi also said that the UN's presence must be certified by the foreign ministry.

"The UN can come here, but its capacity can only be as an observer, not more than that," he said.

Muladi was replying to questions from journalists querying the minister over reports that several non-governmental organizations had called for the UN to send a team to Indonesia to monitor the protests and alleged disappearance of several activists.

The influential Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute is among those who have sent a letter to the Geneva- based UN High Commission on Human Rights (UNHCR).

Muladi said he had so far not received any notice as to whether the world body would send a team to monitor the student protests and inquire about the reportedly missing activists.

At least two people -- Andi Arief, the chairman of unrecognized Indonesian Student Solidarity for Democracy and Haryanto Taslam of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction loyal to Megawati Soekarnoputri -- are still reported as missing.

In Jakarta, Minister of Home Affairs R. Hartono said the reportedly missing activists could be "in hiding".

"They could be hiding in a hut somewhere having a cup of coffee ... It's just possible.

"We (the government) won't fuss about it. There's one thing that I as the minister of home affairs, want to remind you concerning their disappearance, if they really are missing, and that is that it is ABRI's (the Armed Forces) duty to find them, but it's not ABRI's responsibility if they can't be found," he said after meeting with President Soeharto at the Bina Graha presidential office.

"There's a difference, you know, between duty and responsibility. ABRI's duty is to search for them but don't blame ABRI if they are not found.

"And don't say that their disappearance is ABRI's responsibility."

Also in Jakarta, National Commission on Human Rights member Bambang W. Soeharto said the commission had received inquiries from the UNHCR along with NGOs in England, the United States, as well as from Sweden about the reportedly missing activists and student protests.

"But I have told them to wait for the results of our evaluation, monitoring, and investigation, so we haven't given them our answers yet," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Student demonstrations over the country's deepening economic crisis continued in many parts of the country yesterday, including in Semarang and Purwokerto in Central Java, East Java's capital Surabaya, and South Sulawesi's Ujungpandang.

Violence erupted in Purwokerto. Two police officers and dozens of students were injured following a clash near the entrance gate of Jenderal Soedirman University when about 1,500 demonstrating students tried to break a police barricade to march off the campus into the street.

The other protests ended peacefully. (45/37/nur/har/prb/aan)