Jakarta – Police must protect the witnesses of the 1989 Talangsari massacre from harassment and intimidation, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) says.

More than a dozen witnesses of the attack on Talangsari village, Lampung, by Army troops went to Jakarta recently to campaign for justice. More than 200 people are believed to have died in the attack.

Kontras chief Usman Hamid told Antara that the villagers had been subject to intimidation and physical harassment by unknown people ever since their plan to go to Jakarta became known by local authorities.

The intimidation continued after they went home again, he said. "We hope that the villagers will not (continue to be) harassed after raising their plight in Jakarta," Usman said.

The killings occurred when soldiers attacked the village as part of an operation against an Islamic sect the Soeharto government saw as subversive. Official government figures say only 27 villagers were killed but Kontras' figures of identified victims put the death toll at 219.