Right abuses victims reject reconciliation draft law<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Victims of human rights abuses staged a peaceful rally on
\nWednesday at the House of Representatives in a show of rejection
\nof the bill on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.<\/p>\n
The protesters, calling themselves Solidarity for Victims of
\nHuman Rights Abuses, said they wanted justice, which was the only
\nthing that could prevent future rights abuses.<\/p>\n
"Real justice will be obtained through a democratic human
\nrights trial," said Mugiyanto, who led the protest.<\/p>\n
Mugiyanto was the victim of an involuntary disappearance
\nduring the repressive New Order era.<\/p>\n
During the demonstration, the protesters unfurled a banner
\nwhich read: "Reject the bill because it does not benefit the
\nvictims."<\/p>\n
They also displayed posters featuring photos of several police
\nand military officers, including Dibyo Widodo (former National
\nPolice chief), Djaja Suparman (former Jakarta Military chief),
\nHamami Nata (former police chief), Nugroho Djajusman (former
\nJakarta Police chief), Wiranto (former military chief),
\nRoesmanhadi (former police chief) and Hendardji (former military
\npolice chief).<\/p>\n
Below the picture of the photos read: "They must be held
\naccountable." This was in reference to alleged human rights
\nviolations that occurred under their watch.<\/p>\n
The protesters said they represented victims of four rights
\nabuse cases: The Tanjung Priok massacre in Jakarta in 1984,
\ninvoluntary disappearances in 1997\/1998, the May riots in 1998
\nand the Trisakti and Semanggi shootings in Jakarta in 1998.<\/p>\n
They claimed the bill on the Truth and Reconciliation
\nCommission that is currently being debated only regulated the
\ntechnicalities of the establishment of the commission, not the
\nsubstance of justice.<\/p>\n
The protesters said the bill would benefit the perpetrators of
\nhuman rights abuses, not the victims.<\/p>\n
Article 42 of the bill stipulates that human rights abuses
\nthat have been settled by the commission cannot be brought to
\ntrial in a court of law.<\/p>\n
The protesters said the commission and human rights trials
\nmust complement each other.<\/p>\n
During a hearing with the House committee deliberating the
\nbill on Wednesday, victims of the 1965 violence that followed a
\ncoup attempt said they hoped the committee would recommend that
\nthe President issue a decree to repair the good names of the
\nsurvivors. The said they continued to be stigmatized because they
\nwere associated with the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI)
\nblamed for the coup attempt.<\/p>\n
They said such a decree would help create a conducive
\nsituation for national reconciliation. Former president
\nAbdurrahman Wahid has apologized to survivors of the 1965
\nviolence on behalf of the organization he once chaired, Nahdlatul
\nUlama, the country's largest Muslim organization, whose members
\nin 1965 joined in the slaughter of alleged PKI members and
\nsupporters.<\/p>\n
Regarding the deliberation of the bill on the Truth and
\nReconciliation Commission, the group said the bill only defined
\nthe victims of human rights abuses, while a definition for the
\nperpetrators still did not exist.<\/p>\n
The group said they represented both sides of the 1965
\nviolence: Founding president Sukarno who died in custody,
\nmilitary officers who died in the attempted coup, Sukarno's
\nministers and assistants, politicians who were murdered and
\ndetained without trial, and all those who for decades were
\nstigmatized following the coup attempt.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/right-abuses-victims-reject-reconciliation-draft-law-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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