Bagus BT Saragih and Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta/Medan – The joint fact-finding team formed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to investigate the alleged mass-killings in the Mesuji area of Sumatra has begun compiling preliminary data and is set to visit various sites within the next few days.
"We have a meeting today that is aimed at discussing our working steps, which we will need to conduct over the next 30 days in order to investigate the case," appointed team leader, Law and Human Rights Deputy Minister Denny Indrayana, said on Saturday.
The team also comprises Deputy for National Security at the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry Endro Agung, National Commission on Human Rights chairman Ifdhal Kasim, Judicial Mafia Taskforce member Mas Achmad Santosa, a conflict resolution facilitator who has worked in Maluku and Aceh, Ikhsan Malik, deputy program director for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) Indri D. Saptaningrum, Lampung University legal academic Tisnanta, former Lampung Police chief Insp. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak and Forestry Minister special staffer Agus Mulyono.
President Yudhoyono had previously ordered a thorough investigation into the alleged massacre following the revelation of videos, already widely distributed over electronic media, depicting people being brutally beheaded and mutilated.
The videos first shocked the public after they were played before members of the House of Representatives' legal affairs commission on Wednesday during a meeting with Mesuji people and members of their advocacy team.
Advocacy team member Maj. Gen. (ret.) Saurip Kadi claimed the brutal incidents took place in April in the Mesuji district in Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra, amid a clash between local farmers and informal security forces working for palm-oil plantation company PT Sumber Wangi Alam (SWA).
Two villagers and five company employees were reportedly killed following the incidents. Saurip also claimed that at least 32 villagers had been killed in a series of similar clashes in Mesuji since 2008.
On Saturday House legal affairs commission member Nasir Djamil of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said several of the commission's members would also be deployed to Mesuji on Sunday to investigate the alleged killings.
Amid controversies over the authenticity of the video recordings, CBS news reported on Saturday allegations that some parts of the videos were likely made in southern Thailand. Referring to a video where a man was shown being beheaded by an unidentified man dressed in black, the TV channel claimed the assailants, seen toting rifles and wearing black masks, were actually members of a Thailand's Pattani separatist group fighting the Thai government.
Earlier reports suspected that the perpetrators were Indonesian Mobile Brigade police officers. When asked by the Post, some Mesuji people insisted the monologue had been spoken in the local Mesuji language, while CBS news suggested that it had been spoken in Pattani Malay.
"In general, the saying meant 'go away from our land'," a Mesuji villager, Raja, told the Post. He refused to interpret the monologue in detail.
Saurip also refused to comment when asked why an alleged killing over a land dispute clash involved statements that contained words about an Islamic army, as suggested in one of the video clips.
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Haris Azhar said the irregularities found on the videos should not distract the government's attention on Mesuji.
In Medan, hundreds of students staged a rally on Saturday, demanding a thorough investigation of the Mesuji case. They said that the mass killings should be categorized as gross human rights violations.