Human Rights Committee to Send Team to Poso
Friday, 10 November, 2006 | 13:36 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Human Rights National Committee (Komnas HAM) will send its team to Poso and Palu, Central Sulawesi. The team will investigate whether or not there were human rights violations by police when handling the Poso and Palu rioting . The team which includes Enny Suprapto, Zoemrotin and Samsudin plans to leave for Central Sulawesi next week.

Enny explained that the arrival of the team in Poso was not intended to solve the conflict. It will investigate human rights violations instead. Zoemrotin said that the National Commission had actually been set up on Lebaran of this year. They had gathered information from police and will confirm it in the field. “If it is different, then we’ll look for the cause and whatever is possible,” he said after a meeting with some Indonesian Police officials at the Human Rights National Commission office yesterday (11/9).

Head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Indonesian Police, Inspector General Saleh Saaf; Head of Security and Intelligence Agency Police Commissioner General Makbul Padmanagara; Head of Central Sulawesi Regional Police, Brigadier General Badrodin Haiti; and Central Sulawesi Anti-Terror Commander, Police Chief Commissioner Tito Karnafian, were present in the meeting. Whereas those of Komnas HAM who attended the meeting included Garuda Nusantara (Chairman) Abdul Hakim, Enny Suprapto, Zoemrotin and Hasballah M Saad.

After some homicide cases, including the killing of a priest in Palu, rioting broke out at Tanah Runtuh, Poso, on Lebaran eve. The incident involved members of the Indonesian Police Mobile Brigade and an Islamic group who refused to be interrogated. One person was shot to death in the incident. Police arrested 15 suspects. 29 others were still on the run.

According to Zoemrotin, in addition to investigating human rights violations, the Komnas HAM team will be sent to assure the captured people are not hurt. Komnas HAM will also control civil issues such as ownership of goods belonging to those arrested.

ERWIN DARYANTO | DARLIS