Witnessing the violent face of Indonesia<\/p>\n
Thang D. Nguyen, Jakarta<\/p>\n
As 2004 came to an end, Western intelligence forces issued a
\nwarning of a potential terrorist attack at a Hilton hotel in
\nIndonesia during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, no terrorist attacks happened. Unfortunately,
\nhowever, a killing took place at Jakarta's Hotel Hilton on New
\nYear's Eve.<\/p>\n
The suspect of the killing is tycoon Adiguna Sutowo, who shot
\na bartender at Hilton's Fluid Club named Yohannes Haerudy Natong,
\nbetter known as Rudy -- dead after the bartender told him that
\nhis female companion's credit card had been rejected.<\/p>\n
The police arrested Adiguna after the shooting, and he remains
\nin custody while an investigation takes place.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Rudy's death went almost unnoticed. For the most
\npart, it was overshadowed by the news of the tsunami that hit
\nIndonesia and several other Asian countries on Boxing Day.<\/p>\n
But the killing of Rudy has not been covered well by the
\nIndonesian media because the suspect is a member of Jakarta's
\nelite. After all, Adiguna is the brother of Pontjo Sutowo, the
\nowner of the Jakarta Hilton, and the son of the late Ibnu Sutowo,
\na former president of state oil and gas company Pertamina.<\/p>\n
In other words, the Indonesian media has been burned because
\nof its coverage of scandals involving Indonesia's elite.<\/p>\n
For instance, last year, Bambang Harymurti, the chief editor
\nof the weekly news magazine Tempo, was found guilty of libel
\nagainst tycoon Tommy Winata, one of Indonesia's most powerful
\nbusinessmen.<\/p>\n
Violence serves not only the Indonesian business world. In
\nfact, the culture of violence in Indonesia has started among, and
\nremains with, Indonesian political elite, namely, top members of
\nthe Indonesian military (TNI).<\/p>\n
Examples are aplenty. In the Soeharto years, the TNI served
\nhim well as a handy tool to silence the Indonesian media, non-
\ngovernmental organizations and student activists.<\/p>\n
At the same time, it has committed atrocities and human rights
\nviolations in pre-independence East Timor and other parts of
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Today, violence remains a strong part of TNI culture. A case
\nin point is the recent beating of antigraft activist Farid Faqih
\nby Indonesian soldiers in Banda Aceh, the area worst hit by the
\ntsunami. The soldiers' alleged grounds for the beating was that
\nFarid, who is the coordinator of the Government Watch (GOWA), had
\nstolen two truckloads of aid supplies donated by the military
\nwives' association (Dharma Pertiwi).<\/p>\n
Did Farid deserve the beating? No. Whatever the cause of his
\nact, Farid should have been handed over to the Indonesian police
\nfor investigation. Whatever their crimes may be, suspects, or
\ncriminals for that matter, are human beings and should,
\ntherefore, be treated with dignity and humanity. And what if
\nFarid took the aid supplies to give to tsunami victims? Or did he
\nget beaten up because he is an anticorruption activist?<\/p>\n
Likewise, Rudy did not deserve to die just because his
\ncustomer's credit card did not work. For one thing, it happens
\nall the time that, either because of billing problems or
\nover-the-limit issues, credit cards are rejected.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Rudy was just doing his job. In other words, the
\nbartender did not insult Adiguna by telling him that his
\ncompanion's credit card had been rejected.<\/p>\n
But worst of all, Rudy died just a few weeks before his
\nwedding. A 25-year-old college student, Rudy had taken on extra
\nwork as a bartender to save up for the happiest day of his life.<\/p>\n
It will not happen now, and nothing can bring him back to his
\nfiance, family, and friends. They can only hope that justice will
\nbe done.<\/p>\n
\"[Adiguna] has taken the life of the child [Rudy]. It's vital
\nthat he must be punished as severely and appropriately as
\npossible,\" said Frumens da Gomez, Rudy's uncle.<\/p>\n
And what about the murder of human rights activist Munir, who
\nwas poisoned with arsenic on Sept. 7 last year on a Garuda flight
\nto the Netherlands? It has been five months since President
\nSusilo Bambang ordered an investigation into Munir's death. Alas,
\nnothing has been found thus far.<\/p>\n
Together, Munir's murder, Rudy's death and Farid's beating
\nremind us that violence remains strong in Indonesian society;
\nthat injustice is what the poor and the weak get; and that
\nactivists who make Indonesia a better place are in constant
\ndanger.<\/p>\n
As President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has just celebrated his
\n100th day in office, his people wish him well in the months to
\ncome. He cannot go wrong by focusing on such priorities as Aceh's
\ntsunami recovery, the economy, fighting corruption,
\ninfrastructures and education.<\/p>\n
He would be wise, however, to make sure that justice is served
\nin the cases of Munir, Rudy, and Farid. If not, these cases may
\nharm his presidency.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, if justice is not served in these cases,
\nthey will damage Indonesia's international image as a young,
\npromising democracy.<\/p>\n
Mr. President, progress awaits you. So does justice.<\/p>\n
The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist. His new book is The
\nIndonesian Dream: Unity, Diversity, and Democracy in Times of
\nDistrust.<\/p>",
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