Tria Sutrisna, Ihsanuddin, Jakarta – The families of activists abducted in 1997-98 have insisted that a meeting with senior officials from president elect Prabowo Subianto's Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) on Sunday April 4 was not to strengthen friendship ties nor to syntonise a vision for Indonesia's future.
The brother of missing People's Democratic Party (PRD) activist and radical poet Wiji Thukul, Wahyu Susilo, said that the meeting was a setup to ensnare the activists and families of the victims. This is because those who attended were not informed about the actual agenda of the meeting.
"And the most heinous thing is that they did it in the name of a reunion of victims' families without informing us of the actual agenda", said Susilo in South Jakarta on Wednesday August 7.
Susilo said however that the families of activists and victims in 1998 actually never meet the management of the Indonesian Association of the Families of Missing Persons (IKOHI) who usually initiate such reunions.
The families of activist and victims actually meet with Gerindra Executive Director Sufmi Dasco Ahmad and Gerindra Deputy Chairperson Habiburokhman.
"So I think it's clear it was setup. The photographs are also proof of a setup, because then what was done was doxing, like that", Susilo explained.
In addition, Susilo suspects that right from the start the real agenda of the meeting was deliberately covered up because not all of families were informed of the meeting.
"Yes, I think that if we look at how we received the information, it is clear that the intentions were evil, yes, that's what happened", said Susilo.
"There was an attempt to conceal this meeting from friends who to this day are still consistently fighting for the rights of the victims", he continued.
Susilo's statement was confirmed by Novridaniar Dinis, the child of Yadin Muhidin who remains missing after being abducted in 1998. She claimed not to have any information whatsoever about the meeting.
"I didn't know there is a meeting between the families of victims who were disappeared in 98. I didn't know where it was taking place and I was absolutely not invited", Dinis explained.
Dinis actually admitted that she only knew about the meeting after it took place and was widely reported by the media. It was from this that Dinis also learned that the one who was actually invited was the younger sibling of her father.
"So I also don't know how or in what form the invitation was given to them. And in fact I only found out from reports in the media after many were published on Monday. So I don't know from my aunt", said Dinis.
Both Wahyu and Dinis are of the view that the agenda of the meeting and the names of the family members who attended were taken advantage of by Gerindra for their own political interests and at the same time to build a positive image by disseminating it to the public.
"So it was like the public was handed this fact that these people already acknowledge (that past human rights violations have been resolved by the government), that these people have already acknowledge this, like that", she concluded.
As reported earlier, Ahmad and Habiburokhman met with the families of missing persons and 1998 activists on Sunday April 4. Ahmad explained that the meeting was held in the context of strengthening fraternal ties.
"The meeting with the families of missing persons and '98 activists was also in the context of a friendly get together. Strengthening fraternal ties", said Ahmad at the parliament building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday August 5.
"We don't talk about anything much, we agreed only that in the future we will both think about Indonesia's progress", he continued.
According to Ahmad in relation to what happened in the past, this has already been resolved by the government. As it is known, there have been allegations of human rights violations over the disappearance of several pro-democracy activists in 1997-98.
"And then there are things in the past, yes, there has already been a resolution carried out by the government. But we also want to synchronise everything order to synchronise a vision going forward", said Ahmad.
In relation to whether there was a message conveyed by the families of the missing people to Gerindra general chairperson and president elect Prabowo Subianto, Ahmad stressed that there was nothing related to politics.
He said they just discussed how to improve the welfare of the people in relation to education, food and health. Ahmad again emphasised that past human rights violations have already been resolved by the government.
"On the settlement of human rights violations, these have already been resolved non-judicially by the government. And they [the families] know that there is already a resolution", he added.
Notes
Between 1997 and 1998 as many as 23 pro-democracy activists were abducted by members of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus). After extended periods of detention – in many cases the victims were severely tortured – most were released although 13 including Wiji Thukul remain missing and are presumed dead. Former Kopassus commander Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto who was at the time President Suharto's son-in-law, has admitted to ordering the abductions but denies ordering their torture and claims they were all released alive and well. Prabowo, who was discharged from the military for ordering the abductions but has never been tried in court, won the 2024 presidential election and will be inaugurated as Indonesia's next president in October.
- Activists slam meeting with families of '98 victims and people close to Prabowo. Tempo – August 5, 2024
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Bertemu Petinggi Gerindra, Keluarga Korban Penculikan '98: Kami Dijebak".]
