AN Indonesian civil society group will bring the case of missing Pastor Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu to the attention of their president Joko Widodo if nothing results from the ongoing Suhakam inquiry. 

KontraS coordinator Yati Andriyani said that they have already raised the issue with the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

“We have raised it with the ministry because they are our representatives who have diplomatic ties with Malaysia,” Yati said.

“We may do this (with the Indonesian president) after this inquiry. We will wait until the inquiry is over as we respect the Malaysian authorities.

“But after this if there is no progress, we will consider taking this issue to the president,” she said, at the Suhakam office in Kuala Lumpur. 

KontraS is the Indonesian Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence which is holding a watching brief in the hearing. 

They were notified of the case by the Indonesian lawyers representing the Sitepu siblings. 

Yati hopes to see the two governments work together in following up on the evidence and information that have come up in during the inquiry. 

“Both governments need to collaborate because it has been three years since they went missing and there has been no progress.

“We already had a meeting with the Indonesian Human Rights Ministry and they are also following up on the case with the Malaysian embassy and authorities. 

“Both countries have a lot of resources, but why still no progress?” 

Earlier, Iman Setiawan Sitepu, 39 told the Suhakam panel that Joshua had told him that he had received threats when he visited his home village in Sumatera. 

“Joshua told me that he had received threats, but I didn’t think it was serious. I thought it was normal as we all also have received threats. 

“He appeared normal and not anxious when he told me that.”

Iman and Ram Ram Elisabeth flew to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to testify at the Suhakam’s public inquiry into the disappearance of Joshua and his wife Ruth.

The siblings had previously come to Malaysia in 2018 to lodge a police report on the couple’s disappearance. 

The panel was also told that Iman and his sister were asked not to lodge a report with their embassy here after visiting the Petaling Jaya police station.

Iman said their lawyer at the time told them that the police said not to lodge a report until they had found her. 

Iman said that when they went back to their family lifestyle in the fishing village of Nambiki in northern Sumatra, Indonesia they were told by a family member that Joshua had received death threats. 

“After we told our family about what had happenend in Malaysia, Joshua’s adopted father Bebas Bagun, who is our uncle, told us that he (Joshua) had told him that he had received death threats during his visit there.” 

Suhakam commissioner Hishamuddin Yunus asked him why he did not inform the Indonesian police. 

“I didnt think at the time that it was an issue,” Iman said.

Little is known about the status of the couple, who vanished from Petaling Jaya on November 30, 2016, and are suspected to have been victims of enforced disappearance.

International human rights laws define enforced disappearance as when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organisation, or by a third party with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of a state or political organisation. – March 4, 2020.