Students demand justice for friends<\/p>\n
Approximately 100 students from Atma Jaya University
\nasked the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) on
\nTuesday to continue investigating the fatal shootings of Trisakti
\nand Semanggi, which killed 30 people, mostly students.<\/p>\n
The students and some of the victims' relatives met members of
\nthe commission's Investigation Committee at its office on Jl.
\nLatuharhari in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, as part of a ceremony
\nto commemorate the tragedy in Semanggi in 1998.<\/p>\n
Previously, the students and victims' relatives visited a
\ncemetery in Joglo, West Jakarta, where they placed flowers on the
\ngrave and prayed for some of the victims buried there.<\/p>\n
\"We came here to urge the commission to investigate the cases.
\nWe also asked Komnas HAM to push the committee because these
\ncases violated human rights,\" said Arief Priyadi, the father of
\nvictim Bernardinus R. Norman Irmawan.<\/p>\n
The commission head, Albert Hasibuan, assured the group that
\nthey would continue investigating the cases. However, he asked
\nthe participants to be patient.<\/p>\n
\"We need some more time for the investigation as the cases are
\ncomplicated. They are linked to one another as well as with two
\nother incidents of the May Tragedy and kidnappings (of activists)
\nin 1998. We have to draw parameters,\" Albert said.<\/p>\n
He told the students that the commission would probably have
\nto work until next January to finalize a comprehensive report on
\nthe cases.<\/p>\n
The commission was originally given until Nov. 12 to finish
\nup, when the government assigned it to work on the case three
\nmonths ago.<\/p>\n
During the dialog, the commission informed the group of the
\ndevelopments so far in the inquiry, claiming that the fatal
\nshooting incidents seem closely related to the Indonesian Armed
\nForces' strategic policy and operations.<\/p>\n
According to Hendardi, a member of the commission, among the
\nevidence to be probed will be troop mobilization and bullets used
\nto shoot the student protesters.<\/p>\n
\"Such evidence indicates the armed forces' organized efforts
\nfor a repressive agenda,\" said Hendardi, adding that the
\ncommission will summon senior military officials who were in
\ncharge at the time.<\/p>\n
After the meeting, the students continued their commemoration
\nat the Atma Jaya campus on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, which
\nwas also the massacre scene three years ago. Joined by 400 other
\nstudents from Forkot (City Forum), UI (University of Indonesia)
\nand the Victims' Family Association, they also held a ceremony,
\nlaying flowers for the victims and listening to some speeches.<\/p>\n
In May 1998, a peaceful demonstration in front of Trisakti
\nUniversity turned into massacre when several police allegedly
\nshot indiscriminately into the crowd, killing four.<\/p>\n
The killings, known as the Trisakti Tragedy, triggered
\nnationwide protests and forced President Soeharto to end his 32-
\nyear authoritarian rule.<\/p>\n
A similar incident happened under his successor, President
\nB.J. Habibie in November 1998, when security forces again opened
\nfire on the crowd and killed 16 people at the Semanggi
\ncloverleaf, in front of Atma Jaya's campus. The incident is
\nknown as Semanggi I.<\/p>\n
In October 1999, the Semanggi II tragedy occurred, in which 10
\nmore students were shot and killed during a demonstration.<\/p>",
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