U.S. urges full probe into abduction report
U.S. urges full probe into abduction report
WASHINGTON (Reuters): The United States said the reported
abduction and torture of an opposition activist in Indonesia was
disturbing, and urged the government to mount a full
investigation.
"It's a disturbing story," State Department spokesman James
Foley said on Tuesday, referring to the case of Pius
Lustrilanang.
Pius, who disappeared on Feb. 3 and returned on April 4, told
a news conference in Jakarta on Monday that he had been
kidnapped, beaten and subjected to repeated electric shocks.
He said the Armed Forces should admit responsibility, but
Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto said that no senior officer
ordered any abductions.
"The United States government deplores the practice of torture
and the practice of disappearances," Foley told a news briefing.
"We call on the government of Indonesia to conduct a full
investigation into the serious allegations made by this
individual."
Foley said Washington was also deeply concerned about the
numerous other disappearances in recent months.
"We have raised this issue at high levels with the government
of Indonesia and will continue to pursue the matter until the
cases are resolved," he said, adding that anyone involved in
abductions or torture should be held accountable.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch, a U.S. human rights group, said
in a statement released on Tuesday that senior military and
police officers may have lied when they denied knowledge of the
missing students who later turned up in their custody.
Alternatively a secret military or paramilitary unit was
operating without the knowledge of top-ranking officers, the
statement said.
"Either way, the disappearances reflect badly on the
Indonesian government," it said.
Democracy
On Tuesday in Tokyo, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright said Indonesia's lack of democracy was hurting its
economic recovery.
"In democracies like Thailand and South Korea, newly elected
governments have been able to start work with a clean slate, in a
climate of openness, and with the legitimacy to call for shared
sacrifice," Albright said in a speech to students at Tokyo's
Sophia University.
"Indonesia has had a harder time, at least in part because it
lacks similar public participation in decision-making," she said.
"There is also a growing recognition that sound economic
policies are far more likely where governments are accountable,
the press is free and the courts independent," Albright said.
But she added that while democracy evidently facilitated the
process of recovery, the root causes of the financial crisis that
has bedeviled East Asia since last year were not yet fully
understood.
"Not every country hit hard is authoritarian, not every
country that escaped is a democracy," she noted.
Albright said the financial crisis in Asia had focused
attention on the need for transparency in decision-making in all
countries.
"To this end, we should begin a regional dialog in Asia on the
best ways to combat corruption," she said.
Albright arrived in Japan on Tuesday for a 24-hour visit on
the first stop of a week-long Asian tour that also includes
visits to China, Mongolia and South Korea.
She arrived in China yesterday.