Budiman and Dita tortured?

On October 30, ASIET received the following message from members of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) in Indonesia:

"Dita Indah Sari (president of the Indonesian Centre for Labour Struggles) was taken by BIA (military intelligence) from the Surabaya Attorney General's detention centre in Jakarta. This time she was tortured more severely. Her finger nails were pulled off because she refused to answer questions in the interrogation about subversion charges.

"Budiman Sujatmiko (president of the PRD), whose family was also falsely accused of being communist by General Syarwan Hamid, has just experienced the same thing. He was taken by BIA from the Attorney General's detention centre. His finger nails were also pulled out during his interrogation."

The PRD is seeking confirmation of this from its own sources in Jakarta and has asked ASIET to also make inquires. ASIET communicated directly with the International Committee for the Red Cross in Jakarta. The information has also been passed on to the convenor of Parliamentarians for Democracy in Indonesia, Senator Margaret Reynolds, and to the Indonesia Desk in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

From GLW issue 253