Indonesia rights body calls for police probe into poisoning of 2,000 students

Indonesia's top human rights body urged the police on Friday to investigate several new outbreaks of food poisoning linked to President Prabowo Subianto's flagship programme to provide free meals to students, which made 2,000 people sick this week. In separate cases across at least two major Indonesian islands, around 2,000 students and teachers fell ill after eating lunch issued by the government as part of a scheme to eradicate malnutrition launched by Prabowo last year. "Rights to food, especially safe-to-consume food, are human rights," the Indonesian independent rights body known as Komnas HAM said in a statement. "Without a rigorous sanitation standard ... the nutrition intervention that the state is doing will lose its moral legitimacy," it said. Komnas HAM called on the police to launch a probe into the poisoning cases, without providing further details. The National Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Komnas HAM also called on the National Nutrition Agency, which oversees the programme, to suspend the kitchens allegedly responsible for the poisoning outbreaks. Some 170 students and teachers in the South Sulawesi region of Tana Toraja also fell ill after eating the free meals on Thursday, local media Kompas reported, following more than 1,700 cases spread across the provinces of Central Java, East Java, and West Sumatra. The overseeing agency was slated to hold a press conference on Friday, but delayed it without providing a reason or a rescheduled time. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but agency head Sudaryono said on Thursday that the poisoning cases would be handled seriously. Improper food storage and late delivery of cooked meals are often to blame for the food poisoning. As of September 1, 50,000 individuals had been affected by food poisoning cases, lawmaker Charles Honoris said on Wednesday, citing health department data. Only one-third of Indonesians surveyed in July said they were satisfied with the scheme, with poisoning cases cited as a major reason, pollster Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting said.