Terror and intimidation go on despite changes<\/p>\n
By Ridarson Galingging<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): People hoped things would change after
\na new and legitimate government was elected last year. The
\nleadership was supposed to restart the economy, investigate and
\npunish corruptors, correct past injustices of human rights
\nviolations and strengthen the rule of law.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, most of these hopes have not been realized.<\/p>\n
Terror and intimidation were also supposed to disappear as the
\ndictatorship died and democracy was reborn. Yet the evidence is
\nthat terror and intimidation have not ended, but instead have
\nchanged and in some ways become even worse.<\/p>\n
The recent case of Yogyakarta lawyer Kamal Firdaus
\ndemonstrates that psychological intimidation is alive and well in
\nIndonesia. After Firdaus made public allegations of corruption in
\nthe Supreme Court, someone phoned his wife several times making
\ndeath threats.<\/p>\n
This is an example of old-style intimidation using standard
\nNew Order techniques and methods. During the Soeharto years and
\nthe transition under B.J. Habibie, the dominant form of
\nintimidation was official terror because it was from the regime.<\/p>\n
Victims usually had a fairly good idea of who was doing the
\nintimidation, what line had been crossed and what the options
\nwere for getting the threats to end.<\/p>\n
With the new government, the amount of official terror has
\ndropped significantly, especially when compared to how much more
\ncritical public expression is today.<\/p>\n
Official terror has been replaced by \"freelance\" terror. The
\ndifference is in who is behind the intimidation, how people are
\nthreatened and for what reasons. In many ways, freelance terror
\nis even more frightening because it is less predictable.<\/p>\n
Many opposition figures experienced severe harassment prior to
\nOctober 1999. The techniques were sometimes violent, as when
\nstudent activists were kidnapped and even tortured. Most of the
\nthreats, however, were made by telephone.<\/p>\n
One person who is now a high government official endured many
\nmonths of telephone terror.<\/p>\n
\"First they said they were going to kill me,\" explained the
\nofficial, who requested anonymity. \"Then a woman started calling
\nmy wife claiming to be my mistress. After that they started
\nfocusing on my children, describing my daughter's clothing and
\nsaying they were going to rape her.\"<\/p>\n
An activist working on women's issues received
\nmany threats by e-mail in 1998 and 1999.<\/p>\n
\"The e-mails were anonymous and horribly graphic,\" she said.
\n\"I felt hounded and I never knew when the next one would come or
\nif it would stop. I began losing sleep and my whole life
\nwas disturbed.\"<\/p>\n
The new style of intimidation mixes old techniques, like
\nharassing phone calls and e-mails, with new tactics such as
\ndemonstrations against offices and individuals, including against
\npeople in their homes.<\/p>\n
These demonstrations are intimidating not only because they
\nhave sometimes become violent and caused property damage -- as
\nhappened against the internationally recognized activist and
\nplaywright Ratna Sarumpaet at her home -- but also because it is
\nnot clear who sent or hired the mobs, whether anyone is in
\ncontrol or whether the mobs can be dispersed.<\/p>\n
In a country that had no assassination of a government
\nofficial for over 30 years, Indonesia is adjusting to threats and
\nattacks against leaders at the highest levels.<\/p>\n
One legislator was killed in Aceh, and Deputy Speaker of the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Matori Abdul Djalil was
\nnearly hacked to death by attackers whose identities and motives
\nremain murky.<\/p>\n
Guns and explosives are now more widely available for such
\nfreelance intimidation than ever before.<\/p>\n
Even the man responsible for administering the rule of law,
\nAttorney General Marzuki Darusman, has reportedly been the target
\nof harassment and intimidation. He is trying to prosecute a broad
\nrange of powerful individuals for crimes ranging from killings
\nand human rights violations to corruption.<\/p>\n
Foreigners have also been targets of extreme intimidation.
\nJeffrey Winters, a professor at Northwestern University in the
\nUnited States, was threatened after he spoke out about corruption
\nand abuses during the Soeharto and Habibie regimes.<\/p>\n
As freelance terror is increasingly being used by powerful
\nindividuals who want to settle a score or intimidate a critic,
\nthere is a disturbing parallel in the rising use of vigilante
\njustice on the part of average citizens.<\/p>\n
In both cases, the key problem is a lack of respect for the
\npower of the government to maintain order, a lack of confidence
\nin the entire system to produce justice, or both.<\/p>\n
The writer teaches law at the private Yarsi University,
\nJakarta.<\/p>",
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