GOVERNMENT IGNORES VIOLATIONS OF RIGHTS

INDONESIA / MISNA on Ladysilvia; One of the main Indonesian NGO’s, Kontras (Commission for Missing People and Victims of Violence) said it would take some cases of violations before a UN assembly, considering the “known laxity with which the Indonesian government is handling them”. “The executive and the House appear incapable and unwilling to dig deep into these cases” said Edwin Partogi, who leads the dept. of research at Kontras, once led by Munir Said Thalib, who was killed mysteriously over two years ago while nobody has been arrested for the murder. Edwin Partogi has decided to present documents related to four unresolved cases before the UN Human Rights Council, which meets in Geneva next Monday. They are the murder of four students at Trisakti university in 1998, shootings in 1998 and 1999 in Semanggi in which 17 people died and the disappearance of pro-democracy activists in 1997 and 1998. By mere chance, in the ’Trisakti’ case, some police officers were sentenced, but Kontras laments that no leading figure from the law and order forces has taken responsibility for the matter. Recently, a parliamentary commission had asked president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to issue a decree to establish an ’ad hoc’ human rights court, but the consulting committee of the House, later denied the motion. [AB]

ON PRESS LSNN
Ladysilvia it National Network