Whereabouts of missing activists still a mystery

Whereabouts of missing activists still a mystery

JAKARTA (JP): Mystery remains over the whereabouts of 14
missing activists because the Armed Forces (ABRI), which has been
battered by revelations of alleged serious human rights abuses,
can no longer afford the disclosure of any past wrongdoing,
according to a member of the Independent Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

Munir from Kontras told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that ABRI
was in the midst of "political difficulties" regarding those who
are still missing.

"ABRI is still calculating the implications if it announces
that there are a number of people among these 14 activists who
are already dead," Munir said.

Analysts say that the image of ABRI, which celebrates its 53rd
anniversary on Monday, is at its lowest level, following
allegations of human rights abuses during the 32-year rule of
former president Soeharto. Allegations include the killing of
more than 780 people during military operations to quell
separatist movements in Aceh in the early 1990s.

Kontras has said that at least 24 activists have gone missing
since April last year. Nine have resurfaced after being missing
for several months and talked of abductions and torture during
detention, one was found dead in May and the rest remain
unaccounted for.

Amid mounting public pressure to find those still missing,
ABRI announced the alleged involvement of the elite Army's
Special Force (Kopassus) members in the abductions of political
activists in July.

Minister of Security and Defense/ABRI Chief Gen. Wiranto then
discharged Soeharto's son-in-law and former Kopassus chief Lt.
Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto and removed two senior Kopassus
officers from active duty in August, for their involvement in the
abductions of political activists.

Eleven other members of Kopassus are reportedly facing court-
martial for their involvement in the abductions and torture of
political activists.

Munir, however, has said that no military tribunal should be
held until all of the missing activists reappear, as it would not
be legally feasible to bring the officers to another trial for
the same case, should further evidence be found later on.

Wiranto said in August that the military did not know the
whereabouts of these activists and promised to keep searching for
them.

"I suggest that there is still an unsettled problem within
ABRI which is hindering the search for the (missing) activists
and the prosecution of the suspects," Munir said.

He however, refused to elaborate further.

In an effort to seek international support to locate the
missing activists, Kontras met with the United Nations (UN)
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in
Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday to report the abductions of the
political activists.

Rapporteurs of the Working Group receive reports from
individuals and organizations and deal with the governments
concerned in an attempt to clarify allegations and bring torture
and summary or arbitrary executions to an end.

In the above instances, the UN can urgently intervene with
governments when the minimum international standards of fair
trial and appeal appear not to have been met. (byg)