Antenna Occasio Source APC Newsgroup: act.indonesia



Written by: tapol@gn.apc.org
Date: 08 Nov 1998 06:09:00
Subject: Asiaweek: Assessing the May Riots
From: tapol@gn.apc.org (TAPOL)

From Joyo:

ASIAWEEK
Nov. 13 1998

ASSESSING THE MAY RIOTS

Investigators cite links to a "political struggle"


------------------------------------------------------------------------
A VERDICT ON HISTORY rarely goes unchallenged. The one presented Nov. 3 in
Jakarta by Indonesia's Joint Fact-Finding Team on the events of May 13-15 this
year was no exception. Formed in July by the government in response to public
pressure to probe the large-scale unrest that hit the capital and four major
cities, the panel had delayed by over a week the publication of its findings
because of internal differences of opinion. With members drawn from
government, the military and non-official groups, it often had arguments that
sometimes were blistering. Even so, said team chairman Marzuki Darusman,
"there is no split. We argued but we cooperated."

What the team came up with was enough of an indictment. In an executive
summary for reporters, it linked the riots to an "elite political struggle."
During the unrest, there were "key players on the field." Indeed, said the
report, the violence must be seen in the context of the kidnapping of
activists earlier this year and the May 12 shooting of students from Trisakti
University, which sparked much of the rioting. The team noted that while some
of the unrest was spontaneous, instigation was also present. And it said that
steps had been taken to implement the emergency powers given earlier to
president Suharto. Yet no one was named as having planned the turmoil.
Politics aside, reasons cited for the rioting include the economic crisis, the
socio-economic gap and popular perceptions of injustice.

The report was fuzzy in some respects, though. It gave no single figure for
people killed or wounded, and concluded 52 women had been raped, though other
sources believe that the number was far higher. "According to the government,"
said commission member Bambang Wijoyanto, "there were no rapes." He said that
government members approached matters legalistically, while others were
willing to consider more testimonies and evidence than what would be valid in
a courtroom. The team could offer no proof that the riots and rapes had been
planned or that the ethnic-Chinese community, which bore the brunt of the
violence, had been intentionally targeted. Nor did it find any "religious
aspect" to the sexual assaults. There were "missing links" in the chain of
evidence, the report concluded.

One was a meeting held the evening of May 14 at the headquarters of the Army
Strategic Reserve, then commanded by Lt.-Gen. Prabowo Subianto, Suharto's son-
in-law. The team recommended an investigation of that session, and that
Prabowo be brought before a military court for the kidnapping cases. It also
blamed Jakarta commander Maj.-Gen. Syafrie Syamsuddin for failing to keep the
peace in the capital. To support continuing investigations, the team
recommended a program to protect witnesses. And its members called upon the
government to cleanse the criminality that has lodged in nearly all social
classes and sectors in the nation.

Despite the lack of definitive answers in key areas, the report confirms a
widespread belief: that Indonesia had, and perhaps still has, a political
elite willing to cause social turmoil for its own interest - and a military
that, at least in this case, was powerless to protect ordinary citizens from
the resulting violence.

Political scientist Mochtar Buchori expects the public to "become more
critical of the government and the armed forces" after learning of the report,
whose full text has yet to be released. The commission's Wijoyanto believes
not only the government but the people should read it. Thus the report will
likely be more a beginning than an ending. If it leads to the exposing and
exorcising of the demon of political violence in Indonesia, the report - and
the team - will have a place in history.

- By Jose Manuel Tesoro/Jakarta

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath,
Surrey CR7 8HW, UK
Phone: 0181 771-2904 Fax: 0181 653-0322
email: tapol@gn.apc.org
Campaigning to expose human rights violations in
Indonesia, East Timor, West Papua and Aceh

Join us to celebrate TAPOL's 25th anniversary on
20 October 1998. Contact us for ticket details.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Index E-mail Author Previous message Next message