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.