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TAPOL HAS TODAY CALLED
ON THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT to condemn the murder of Professor Safwan
Idris in the strongest terms and to call on the
Indonesian Government to initiate thorough
investigations to identify the perpetrators and bring
them to justice.
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 Coming so soon after the murder of
human rights activist Jafar Siddiq Hamzah whose badly
mutilated body was buried little more than a week ago,
TAPOL sees this latest atrocity as a deliberate attempt
to strike fear among the Achenese people by showing that
even the most highly-respected dignitaries living in the
provincial capital, Banda Acheh, are not safe from the
criminal designs of the military forces. |
Professor Safwan Idris was the Rector
of IAIN, the State Institute of Islamic Studies,
Ar-Raniry. He was well known as a supporter of a
peaceful solution for the Acheh conflict. He was a member
of the Independent Investigation Commission into Human
Rights Violations in Acheh set up by former President
Habibie and was a leading candidate for the position of
governor of Acheh. His murder has profoundly shocked
Achenese society in general and the Achenese human
rights community in particualar.
In her letter to Foreign Secretary
Robin Cook, the director of TAPOL,Carmel Budiardjo, said
that the murder has all the hallmarks of a
carefully-planned military operation. The men who
entered Professor Safwan's home acted swiftly and
professionally and made a get-away on a waiting
motorbike before anyone could raise the alarm.
Governments worldwide should insist
that the Indonesian police investigate the murder. Until
now, the murder of Achenese MP, Tengku Nashiruddin Daud
in January remains unsolved, while the police have
failed as yet to stisfactorily investigate the abduction
and murder of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah. Without thoroughgoing
action by the security forces, it is feared that the
spate of killings will continue,' said TAPOL.
Last week, TAPOL called on Komnas
HAM, Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission, to
set up a special team to investigate the abduction and
murder of Jafar Siddiq Hamzah as well as the murder of
Nashiruddin MP, and the disappearance in early June of
the GAM spokesperson, Ismail Syahputra. (end) |
