Workers file report of rights abuses

Workers file report of rights abuses

JAKARTA: Around 4,000 former employees of defunct aircraft
manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) have demanded that the
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) investigate
alleged human rights abuses during the company's controversial
massive retrenchment last year.

The workers are charging that the West Java-based company
abused their rights when it arbitrarily closed down without prior
notice.

"When the company shut its office on July 12, many workers
were receiving treatment at the company hospital. But because
they turned off the lights and the hospital denied them further
treatment, several workers died and others suffered mental duress
that it affected their health," said the workers' lawyer, Lamria
Siagian, recently.

She said the workers and their families suffered many negative
impacts. For example, their children were expelled from school
because they could not afford tuition any longer.

Lamria also accused the company of lying about the number of
workers who had accepted the compensation fund. -- JP