Jenny Grant, Jakarta – A report on the May riots has been delayed twice because military and government members on the inquiry team are opposed to the findings, sources said yesterday.

The team is split over the conclusion that the military was partly responsible for orchestrating the riots. Sources said there was also division over a suggestion that parliament should wrest control of undercover military operations away from central command. Military and government members are worried about possible consequences from the report. They are afraid and are trying to delay the release, said one source.

Another source said the eight officials on the 18-member team were trying to defend the honour of the Government and military by postponing meetings and trying to curb the findings of the group. "It's clear in our recommendations there should not just be individual accountability, but also institutional accountability from the military," said the source.

One of the major recommendations of the team is that parliament should have control over all military intelligence operations and institutions in the future. If that recommendation were implemented it would remove the military's authority to undertake covert actions domestically.

The report also finds retired Lieutenant-General Prabowo Subianto, and former Jakarta military commander Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin should be held partly accountable for the riots. Mr Subianto, the son-in-law of former president Suharto, was forced to resign from the military for orchestrating the kidnapping of activists earlier this year when he headed the elite special forces. "The military officials are really afraid because we mention Prabowo and Sjafrie. The link is how the former Suharto regime tried to defend, to prolong its own status and power by using people like Prabowo to create unrest," said one team member.

The team includes three police generals and a retired military officer. Officials from the ministries of home affairs, women's affairs and defence also sit on the team which has been working for three months on the report. "Those members cannot argue with our facts, but when it comes to drawing conclusions and making recommendations, they are very defensive," said the team member.

One of the all-consuming issues has been about the rapes. "They [military members] cannot agree the rapes were part of a bigger plan," the source said. The source said the team found evidence of 67 rapes during the riots. The rapes were combined with torture and killing of the victims. A report by the Volunteers for Humanity found there were 168 cases of rape and other sexual violence during the three days of rioting. Twenty of those women died.