A lingering concern
Almost three weeks have passed since some of the most ugly rioting in the city's history rocked Jakarta. Yet, though a semblance of normalcy has since descended, most of the city's citizenry will find it difficult to say that the dust of those two days of violence has settled. Many of the scars which the violence, the looting and the burning have left on the city are just too ugly to be easily forgotten.
The scorched skeletons of buildings that still stand scattered across the city are tactile evidence of the span and the destructive ferocity of those two days of violence. But while material losses can be recovered and damage repaired, much harder to mend is the psychological and emotional damage which the riots inflicted on many of Jakarta's citizens.
In this context, deplorable is perhaps the only word fit to describe the fact that practically nothing has been heard of the progress that has been made in the investigations into the rapes that are reported to have occurred during those two days of violence. If the suspicions that have been widely aired are true, those rapes, or most of them, were committed by the same organized groups of individuals who are believed to have provoked the burning and looting. The logical conclusion, if this were true, would be that it should be easier for the authorities to find the perpetrators of those crimes.
Yet, it seems that, so far, the authorities have come to a dead end in their efforts to fulfill their promise to look into matter. Not only the police, but also the military and the minister of women's affairs have said that they have been unable to collect the information they need to start their investigation. Indeed, the official spokesmen say, not a single report or complaint of rape has been received.
Yet, legal aid officers and women's assistance groups have, on the basis of complaints received, reported that at least 100 women and girls, mostly Chinese-Indonesians, were assaulted during the May incidents. These groups are still working hard, doing their best to assist the victims and, if possible, to find justice for the women.
It would be comforting under such circumstances to be able to assume that the authorities are indeed doing their best to tackle the case, and that the only thing standing in the way of finding out the truth is the difficulty in finding evidence. After all, proving a rape is never easy, even in the most "normal" of circumstances. Furthermore, it is a difficulty that tends to increase with the passage of time. Unfortunately, it is hard to escape the impression that the authorities are not really serious in their efforts to tackle this matter. Indeed, the authorities appear to be disinclined to take even the charges of provocation by organized groups seriously.
If rape charges are hard to prove though, claims of physical assault and molestation should be easier to verify. For the sake of establishing justice, we suggest that the authorities cooperate with those independent civic organizations that have spearheaded the efforts to provide assistance.
As things are at present, the authorities are having trouble enough assuaging the public's suspicions that elements among them were involved in the disappearances of activists and in the fatal shooting of four Trisakti University students. The authorities can ill afford to leave too many public irritants unresolved. The government's credibility, along with it its authority, is at stake.