Human rights groups went to the House of Representatives on Wednesday to demand political pressure on the government to act upon the recommendations of the legislature on the cases of activist disappearances in the heady days before the downfall of Suharto in 1998.

On Sept. 30, 2009 the House sent an official letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urging him to establish a team to locate 13 anti-Suharto activists whose whereabouts remain unknown.

The House also asked the government to establish an ad hoc human rights tribunal to prosecute the cases, compensate victims’ families and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), pointed out that the government had not even commented on the House recommendations yet.

"The government should respond," he said at the House on Wednesday.

"If they don’t want [to follow the House recommendations], just say so."

Mugiyanto, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared, said the president must act on the recommendations, saying "it will provide legal closure for the victims’ families."

Also on Wednesday, several rights groups went to the Presidential Advisory Council’s office demanding that the president resolve cases of intolerance and discrimination against religious minority groups across the country.

Febi Yonesta, chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), said resolving cases of religious intolerance was the responsibility of the central government.

"The president should give bold, clear statements supporting [religious] diversity and condemning all acts of intolerance," Febi said.