By Max Lane
The National Commission for Human Rights, established by the Suharto dictatorship, has surprised the regime by announcing that its investigations reveal that five people were killed and 74 are missing from the riot that took place after the government's attack on the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters in Jakarta on July 27.
Minister for Security and Political Affairs, Soesilo Soedarman, said he was shocked because the commission had not mentioned the issue of missing people during preliminary discussions with the government.
Soedarman and other dictatorship figures have suggested that the 74 have gone "jalan-jalan" (walkabout) for the last six weeks and have not told their families. Marzuki Darusman, a former Golkar parliamentarian, advocate of repeal of the anti-subversion law and some liberalisation of political life, told foreign media in Jakarta: "Why didn't the government ever mention those missing? It is as if it didn't take any interest in those people".
The commission will release a final report later this month.