Don Greenlees, Jakarta – On Sunday March 8, Haryanto Taslam joined the list of Indonesian political activists to go suddenly missing. Soon before he disappeared he received a telephone call at his home in East Jakarta and told his wife, Ani Agustina, he was going out.

About 6.30pm, 44-year-old Mr Taslam, an ally of ousted Indonesian Democratic Party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, got into his Mitsubishi Lancer and drove off. Nothing was heard from him until April 17 when, just as suddenly, he turned up in Surabaya, East Java.

What happened to Mr Taslam, and others like him, in the weeks he was missing only began to emerge this week when another activist said he had been taken to a detention centre where political troublemakers were routinely tortured.

On Thursday, Mr Taslam was supposed to add his own account of life in detention, at an Jakarta press conference. Instead, flanked by members of the National Commission on Human Rights, he refused to comment on his experiences.

"The fact is, I am unable to provide a long explanation, although I am aware that many people are waiting for my honest and open statement," he said. "But regardless of whether or not I should talk, this is a moral problem faced by our country if we are to find out what has really happened to those who are missing."

Mr Taslam's reticence was met with loud protests from the Indonesian media. They jeered and some shouted "coward" and "liar". He smiled and tried to retain his composure. "I don't want to be a hero... I have a moral obligation to those with a similar fate to mine whose whereabouts are still unclear," he responded. Nine activists, including Mr Taslam, have reappeared recently, but it seems they are still not free. The fear of reprisals has meant only one, Pius Lustrilanang, has spoken out, and he left for The Netherlands after a press conference.

From his testimony, it is believed several activists have been held together and tortures. Mr Lustrilanang claimed he was blindfolded and handcuffed, beaten, given electric shocks and submerged in water.

Before activists were released, they were warned they would be killed if they revealed what had happened. At least five are still missing.

The story has embarrassed Indonesian authorities, struggling to stay on top of the country's economic crisis and in desperate need of foreign friends. The human rights commission and foreign governments are maintaining pressure on the Indonesian Government to find those missing, identify those accused of illegal detentions and bring them to justice.

Military commanders have consistently denied any official sanction or knowledge of such practices. Despite these denials, the detentions appear to be the work of a possibly rogue element of the military.

Indonesian armed forces chief Wiranto said the military had "no policies to kidnap specific individuals" and was assisting in trying to locate those who are still missing. Others, such as the military's socio-political affairs chief Bambang Yudhoyono, have promised to ensure the well-being of returned activists.

Leopold Sudaryono, a lawyer from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence who is representing Mr Taslam, said strong written guarantees from the police or military were needed to overcome the reluctance of activists to go public and corroborate Mr Lustrilanang's account. "Taslam has three children and he is worried about his family's security," Mr Sudaryono said. "He has said he is not fully free."