H Dharmastuti/SWA & LM, Jakarta – The fate of 14 people abducted in the dying days of the Suharto regime remains unknown. The majority of those abducted were affiliated to the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and in an effort to solve the disappearances, a delegation of party leaders, led by party chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko, has urged the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to establish a special commission.
As the Suharto regime began to visibly crumble around the time of the October 1997 parliamentary elections and outspoken critics of the regime began to take to the streets in greater numbers, many of the budding movement's most prominent leaders were abducted.
Many were leaders of the PRD's student, artist, peasant and workers organisations and others affiliated to more radical elements drawn to the charismatic Megawati Sukarnoputri, now Vice President.
A delegation of 15 leaders of the PRD arrived at the Komnas HAM offices on Jl. Latuharhary, Central Jakarta, at 10am today. They were received by Komnas HAM Chairman Asmara Nababan and immediately discussed the proposal in the Plenary Meeting Room.
"This case is a very serious human rights violation. For this reason we urge the establishment of a special commission to investigate this case," said Budiman accompanied by PRD Secretary General, Petrus Haryanto.
As mentioned in written the press release distributed at the offices, the PRD urged the National Commission on Human Rights to establish an independent body comprised of people with a strong commitment to upholding human rights to investigate the abductions.
The PRD recommended several candidates, among them Indonesia's most famous human rights lawyer and Chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Munir, Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a lawyer and human rights activist, Hendardi and Bambang Widjojanto.
The PRD also suggested that the body involve persons directly affected by the kidnappings including PRD leader Nezar Patria, who was abducted and later released and Utomo, the father of Petrus Bimo, one of the kidnap victims whose fate remains unknown.
The initiative to establish the commission comes after the PRD last week filed a suit for damages against the former regime of President Suharto to the tune of RP5.5. billion. Budiman told reporters at the district court after filing the lawsuit.
"They chased after us, tortured us, raided our PRD branches and seized important party documents. The Suharto regime slapped me with 13 years imprisonment in 1997, based upon unsubstantiated evidence and ludicrous accusations."
The crimes against party activists heavily implicate the armed forces and the party appears to be pursuing a number of avenues in clearing their name and bringing the perpetrators to justice. The kidnapping case in particular implicates the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) lead at that time by Suharto's son-in-law, Prabowo.
From information supplied by Andi Arief, a kidnap victim and head of the PRD's student organisation, at least one of his military kidnappers had recently returned from studying in England.
Research conducted by the SiaR organisation based at Murdoch University, Australia, concluded that, if Andi's information is valid, then the person he mentions can only be a member of Kopassus. "They participate in a year-long training course in Security Studies at Hull University. Graduates are at the S-2 level, with the degree of Master of Arts. Seven of the ten soldiers from Indonesia taking this course are members of Kopassus," said a SiaR source in the British Foreign Ministry.