Acts of violence still rampant

Acts of violence still rampant

From Rakyat Merdeka

The attack launched by a group of people garbed in black
against an activist of the Democratic People's Party (PRD),
Budiman Sudjatmiko, the wounding of Yakobus Kurniawan by a mob
attack while he attended the International Labor Day on May 1,
threats of destruction of the PRD office and the searching of its
activists have obviously proved that there is a radical tendency
at the grassroots level. The same tendency was proved in an
attack by a group of youths self-styled the Anti-Communist Troops
Movement on students marching to the legislative assembly of
Yogyakarta to make National Education Day on May 2 in Yogyakarta.
The attack left four students injured.

Regarding the above incidents, the Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is of the view that:

a. The acts taken by this group of people is evidence that
political hooliganism is gaining ground again. Violence is
committed under the name of a certain group or a certain religion
while groups of people foster solidarity among themselves by
manipulating ethnic and religious identity to attack other
groups. This is obviously against the principles of human rights
and democracy in which the freedom of expression and opinion are
prioritized as inherent to individual rights.

b. The flourishing of groups practicing violence and committing
terror against activists of movements and students is not a
natural process but is obviously the continuity of the
reproduction of the terror and violence machines designed to
crush the ongoing process of democracy. One can easily guess that
this continuous terror is nothing but the continuity of the
politics of repression and authoritarianism pursued by forces
that feel threatened by the reform and pro-democracy movements.

c. Viewed from the pattern and model of organization and the
military-styled acts perpetrated in the field, these groups enjoy
strong support so that they can openly and freely carry out their
activities. Such patterns remind us of the incident in East
Timor, in which groups of armed civilians perpetrated terror and
physical violence against other groups.

d. Recently rampant practices of violence, giving the impression
of social unrest has become a strategy pursued to destroy the
ongoing process of democracy.

In view of these facts, Kontras wishes to:

1. remind people of all walks of life to be alert to antagonistic
policies against others in the community under the name of a
particular religion or ethnic group.

2. call on people of all walks of life to be alert to forces
which are opportunistic in taking advantage of situations of
civic unrest.

3. condemn all forms of provocative practices and violent acts
which may trigger social unrest by manipulating religion and
ethnicity.

MUNARMAN

Coordinator of Kontras

Jakarta