The special committee for missing persons at the House of Representatives has said the government is "not serious" about resolving human rights abuse cases after top government officials defied a second summons for questioning about the disappearances of democracy activists in 1997-1998.

The officers who failed to show up once again were Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso, National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, National Intelligence Agency chief Syamsir Siregar and chief security minister Widodo Adisucipto.

All sent letters explaining their failure to comply with the request, while Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono sent a member of his staff, Agus Susilo Broto.

"Twice now we have summoned those officers to attend meetings and none of them have once shown up. It is fairly clear they do not intend on resolving these human rights cases and have no issue insulting us as the legislators," special committee member Suripto said after the meeting.

"We may have to summon them by force. We have the right to do that," he said.

Article 201 (6) of the House regulation stipulates that legislators have the right to summon by force anyone refusing to show for questioning on two or more occasions.

"If they still refuse to come, we will make a decision on this matter without asking their opinion. We will simply just let the people consider this issue without their testimony," another committee member, Darmayanto, said.

"We also have to write a letter to the president to report on the behaviour of his staff," Nadra Izahari, another commission member, said.

Darmayanto said the meetings were crucial for investigators, who require a wide range of evidence from a variety of witnesses to shed some light on the disappearances of democratic activists during the reformation era.

"Some witnesses have informed us that the intelligence agency, police and military were involved in some way with these disappearances. We need to clarify this, so we invited them to discuss the allegations," Darmayanto said.

The committee, established in 2007, has no punitive authority and can only collect information.

"We only have the authority to convey the results of our investigation to the President," he said.

He said the families of victims, demanding justice for their missing relatives, have been putting pressure on the committee.

"Just imagine if one of your relatives was abducted in a way like these people have experienced," Darmayanto said.

Data from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) shows 23 activists were abducted between 1997 and 1998, with 14 remaining missing, while thousands of others were reported missing. According to the ad hoc investigation team formed by the National Commission on Human Rights, around 20 people linked to former president Soeharto and his military aides were responsible for the abductions.