Rights body to exhume eight Priok graves<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
\nHAM) plans to start exhuming eight of the 22 graves believed to
\ncontain victims of the 1984 bloody incident in Tanjung Priok,
\nNorth Jakarta, later this month, its executive said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Komnas member Maj. Gen. (ret) Koesparmono Irsan said the
\ndecision to exhume the eight graves was made after a team from
\nthe commission succeeded in gathering detailed information on the
\nremains.<\/p>\n
\"The remaining 14 are still being looked into,\" the former
\nsenior police detective told a meeting between dozens of
\nrelatives of the victims and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman at
\nthe latter's office here.<\/p>\n
According to Koesparmono, Komnas HAM had yet to decide on the
\nprecise date for the procedure. He gave no reason.<\/p>\n
The remains of the victims, he said, would be important
\nevidence for the team to aid their work in completing their
\nfindings to be submitted to the Attorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
The unearthed remains would be examined later by forensic
\nexperts to help find the cause of their death which could become
\nlegal evidence for the Attorney General's Office in bringing the
\ncase to the court later, he said.<\/p>\n
\"That's why we asked officers from both the National Police
\nand the Attorney General's Office to accompany the team during
\nthe digging of the graves,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Koesparmono explained that the commission's team had obtained
\nconsent from Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso to exhume the graves, as
\nrequired by a city regulation.<\/p>\n
The victims' relatives, led by Beni Biki, the son of the late
\nAmir Biki, a local Muslim preacher who was shot dead in the
\nincident, were accompanied by Koesparmono and several other
\nKomnas HAM staff and activists from the Commission for Missing
\nPersons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).<\/p>\n
The case of the Tanjung Priok incident, which was buried for
\nyears during former president Soeharto's rule, has been in the
\nhands of the Attorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
But the office required that the commission include forensic
\nexamination results in their findings.<\/p>\n
The initial findings submitted by the commission were
\nconsidered by many to be based only on data and testimonies made
\nby the military and government.<\/p>\n
The findings, for example, stated that there was no evidence
\nof intentional mass killings or burials during or after the
\nincident.<\/p>\n
The Sept. 12, 1984 incident revolves around clashes between
\ncivilians and military personnel which allegedly erupted
\nfollowing emotionally charged lectures at Tanjung Priok's Rawa
\nBadak Mosque by preachers, who were reportedly criticizing the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The military claimed 23 people were killed and 60 were
\ninjured; eyewitnesses said they saw a truck loaded with charred
\nbodies.<\/p>\n
During the Friday's hearing, Munir from Kontras handed new
\nevidence -- in the form of documents -- of the bloodshed to
\nMarzuki, proving that the past regime had deliberately obscured
\nthe identity of the victims.<\/p>\n
The documents consist, among other things, of copies of
\npublications which revealed statements made by a number of state
\nofficials, including Soeharto, who at the time blamed the
\nincident on the Tanjung Priok residents. (bby)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rights-body-to-exhume-eight-priok-graves-1447893297",
"image": ""
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