The New Order Torture Chamber

During the New Order there were standing instructions to kidnap selected student activists. Four of the victims remain missing, their fates unknown. In 1997, Tempo reporter Nezar Patria was a member of Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy (SMID). He was one of those abducted who came back to tell his story.

February 5, 2008

THE incident happened 10 years ago but it remains vivid in my mind. The four of us, Aan Rusdianto, Mugiyanto, Petrus Bima Anugerah and I were members of SMID. We had been living in an apartment in Klender, East Jakarta for 10 days. None of the neighbors knew that we were members of a movement against dictatorship.

In March 1998, Indonesia's political situation was tense. While students protested on the streets, the MPR (People's Consultative Assembl

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