Protests greet human rights day<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The 50th anniversary of the Universal
\nDeclaration on Human Rights was marked here on Thursday with
\ncrowds of people from different backgrounds taking to the
\ncapital's streets to press their demands on various issues,
\nincluding an end to human rights violations.<\/p>\n
The massive protests, estimated at more than 10,000
\nparticipants, took place at different locations throughout the
\ncity, leading to one of the heaviest traffic congestions that
\nJakarta has seen this year, as most of the major thoroughfares
\nand toll roads were packed with nervous motorists until late in
\nthe evening.<\/p>\n
The scene became worse when some of the motorists drove down
\nstreets in the wrong direction in order to reach their
\ndestinations.<\/p>\n
Under the scorching midday sun, the protesters, divided into
\ndozens of groups, had different agendas, but most attempted to
\nbreakthrough the military and police cordons in order to reach
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) building on Jl. Gatot
\nSubroto in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
While most of the protesters marched hand in hand, others
\nrallied in overloaded buses, minibuses and motorcycles.<\/p>\n
No serious clashes were recorded, although both protesters and
\nsecurity authorities struggled to carry out their respective
\nmissions.<\/p>\n
One minor clash between some 3,000 City Forum (Forkot)
\nprotesters and police occurred in front of the Jakarta Police
\nheadquarters in the vicinity of the Semanggi cloverleaf in the
\nafternoon, but no injuries were reported.<\/p>\n
Judging from their banners, statements and speeches, the
\nmasses were protesting against the government's and military's
\nviolations of human rights in Aceh, Tanjung Priok (North
\nJakarta), East Timor and the killings and kidnappings of student
\nactivists in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The protesters also continued to demand the trial of former
\npresident Soeharto, as well as demanding that the so-called
\nunknown parties stop provoking the people to fight among
\nthemselves with their political maneuvers.<\/p>\n
At about 10 p.m., Thursday night, the last protesters on the
\nstreets -- the Forkot activists who occupied the toll road next
\nto the Jakarta Convention Center near the MPR building --
\npeacefully dispersed.<\/p>\n
Their withdrawal was joyfully greeted by members of the Police
\nMobile Brigade, who had been monitoring the protesters.<\/p>\n
In the late afternoon, some 500 students grouped in the
\nCommunication Forum of Jakarta Student Senate (FKSMJ) reached the
\ntoll road in front of the Assembly building, occupying the site
\nfor hours.<\/p>\n
They held a free speech forum in front of the nearby Manggala
\nWanabhakti building complex, eventually dispersing peacefully
\nafter they were unsuccessful in their negotiations with security
\nofficers to reach the MPR building.<\/p>\n
A spokesman of FKSMJ, Jamaluddin, said that the group called
\non the government to apply a travel ban to Soeharto, and asked
\nfor transparency in the probe of Soeharto's wealth.<\/p>\n
Among the first rallies held on Thursday was the one organized
\nby Rakyat Miskin Kota (Urban Poor Consortium) at the Hotel
\nIndonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Carrying banners and dozens of "dead bodies" made of
\ncardboard, newspapers and black plastic bags, the group of some
\n500 pedicab drivers, workers and the recently unemployed marched
\nnorth to the fountain near the Bank Indonesia building.<\/p>\n
There, they wrapped the nearby Arjuna Wijaya monument, which
\ndepicts a scene from the Bharatayuda war between the Pandawa and
\nKurawa brothers, in a black banner that read: "Stop money
\npolitics and politics of violence," and "Return the ear of the
\nstate."<\/p>\n
The "bodies" were then thrown in the pond which surrounds the
\nmonument.<\/p>\n
"Protesting at the statue of Bharatayuda, which was a war
\namong brothers, expresses our rejection of people being pitted
\nagainst each other, which we fear will still happen in the
\nfuture," Rahman, of the Great Jakarta Union, said.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, President B.J. Habibie, in his nationally
\ntelevised speech to mark the human rights declaration, warned the
\npeople that mass actions, especially those which were marred by
\nvandalism and looting, were against the spirit of the declaration
\nitself.<\/p>\n
At about noon at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, some 200
\nactivists from 26 nongovernmental organizations staged another
\nrally, protesting the human rights violations which they said had
\ntaken place over the last 32 years.<\/p>\n
Other big crowds of protesters were also seen marching along
\nthe streets of Menteng, Senen, in the Gambir area and in the area
\naround the National Monument.<\/p>\n
These protesters included some 4,000 activists from the
\nStudent Action Front for Reform and Democracy, 3,000 students
\nfrom Students' and People's Action for Human Rights, 1,500
\nstudents from the Joint Forum, 1,000 students from the Indonesian
\nStudents Action Parliament, 1,000 students from the University of
\nTrisakti's Big Family and 100 students from Jakarta's Art
\nInstitute.<\/p>\n
"Gosh ... it's up to them then. This day is theirs," Central
\nJakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, during the "official" ceremony celebrating the
\nhuman rights declaration at the United Nations Information Center
\nhere, the resident coordinator for UN Operational Activities in
\nIndonesia, G. Ravi Rajan, said that the world body will continue
\nto help the Indonesian government implement human rights in the
\ncountry. (emf\/anr\/ivy\/edt\/ylt\/bsr)<\/p>",
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