By Allan Nairn
This [northern] spring, just before Jakarta erupted in riots, more than a dozen activists from Indonesia's pro-democracy movement suddenly "disappeared" from the capital and outlying towns. Amid a public outcry, the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) denied any knowledge of the apparent abductions, as did the US government, which joined calls for an investigation.
Now, new information from US and Indonesian officials, and from "disappearance" survivors, indicates that the abductions were perpetrated by the ABRI high command using US-trained units, some of which have formal links with US intelligence.
The disappearance issue was — and is — political dynamite, since the military has moved to centre stage in Indonesian politics. The US State Department and others have argued that dissidents should accept a deal with ABRI, telling them that the much-feared military is suitable to form the core of a new government.
Among the units that officials say played a role in the disappearances are the military-dominated intelligence umbrella group BAKIN, which engaged in surveillance of the activists; and the military intelligence agency, BIA, which carried out abductions and interrogation.
In mid-April a close associate of the BIA commander told me that this unit was holding one of the "disappeared". The BIA commander, General Zacky Makarim, reports daily to ABRI chief General Wiranto.
Both BAKIN and BIA have longstanding ties to the CIA and the Pentagon. General Benny Murdani, formerly the commander of ABRI and, until 1993, defence minister, told me that in his day the relationship included regular consultation at senior levels and "exchange of information". Murdani said that BAKIN — which he calls "the equivalent of the CIA" — worked with the CIA, while BIA dealt with the Defence Intelligence Agency.
Both Indonesian intelligence units have been implicated in atrocities, and the State Department's recent human rights reports acknowledge BIA's use of electroshock torture. Nevertheless, US officials told me the intelligence ties remain intact, with BAKIN enjoying a formal "liaison" relationship with the CIA, and BIA coordinating day to day with Colonel Charles McFetridge at the US embassy, as well as periodically with senior Pentagon chiefs in Washington.
In January, when General Feisal Tanjung, then the head of ABRI, warned dissidents that "the armed forces will not hesitate to cut to pieces all antigovernment groups", he specifically added that BAKIN would be "watching them all the time".
One week later, US secretary of defence William Cohen arrived in Jakarta to meet with Suharto and ABRI leaders, including the commanders of the two intelligence units and Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, then the head of the elite commando regiment KOPASSUS. In response to reporters' questions, Cohen said, "I am not going to give him [Suharto] guidance in terms of what he should or should not do in terms of maintaining control of his own country".
Indonesian officials say they took the Cohen visit as a green light. Within days, the BIA chief, General Zacky, began convening meetings of key upper-class dissidents in which — according to one of Zacky's close associates — he warned them that "if they wanted to stay alive they should not make his life difficult".
On January 29, one of those dissidents tipped off activist Pius Lustrilanang that within one week ABRI intelligence would be placing him under surveillance.
Six days later, on February 4, Lustrilanang was abducted by plain-clothed men who blindfolded him and took him to a torture centre, where he was interrogated, electroshocked and subjected to water torture.
As the result of a courageous protest campaign by fellow activists, Lustrilanang and four of the other "disappeared" were later freed. Their accounts of their experiences indicate that the torture centre — equipped with six jail cells and surveillance video cameras — was the place of captivity for at least nine dissidents: Lustrilanang, Desmond Mahesa, Haryanto Taslam, Faisal Reza, Lucas da Costa, Rian, Sony, Djati and Andi Arief.
In early April, BIA's control of that torture centre was confirmed to me by one of General Zacky's key associates. Asked about Arief, he had checked with Zacky. The word came back from the BIA commander that "He [Arief] is with us".
A source close to General Prabowo says the disappearances were a joint operation involving several units, including BIA, KODAM Jaya (the army's Jakarta District Command) and the plain-clothes intelligence unit (Group 4) of KOPASSUS.
The other four, uniformed, KOPASSUS groups have been trained by the Pentagon's Joint Combined Exchange and Training program. (This program was suspended in Indonesia on May 8, after being exposed by the Nation, the East Timor Action Network, Justice for All and Representative Lane Evans.) Officials say that Group 4, by contrast, has received special instruction from US intelligence.
[Allan Nairn was deported from Indonesia in March as a "threat to national security". His research was supported by the Nation Institute. Abridged from the June 8 issue of the US Nation.]