Equal justice under the law
Equal justice under the law
The National Commission on Human Rights has asked the authorities to act on its recommendation to rescind the outdated 1963 Subversion Law. It has also suggested that a fair solution be found to the forceful takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters on July 27 by supporters of the officially recognized party chairman, Soerjadi, from the followers of deposed leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The commission has waited patiently for a response to its recommendation, which it submitted to the government last February. Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono was quoted by Kompas as saying yesterday that President Soeharto had studied the commission's proposal and "would hand down his judgment in due time."
According to the commission, the law is outdated and contradicts the nation's concept of law and democracy as well as the people's aspirations. As for the takeover of the PDI headquarters, which provoked the worst riots seen in this country for 20 years, it was only the supporters of Megawati who were put on trial. On Nov. 27, 116 Megawati loyalists were jailed for ignoring a police order to disperse when fighting broke out between the two groups.
Numerous experts believe that justice will only be done if police bring charges against Soerjadi's followers as well. If nothing is done the public will be left to believe that the trial of Megawati's supporters was a farce, in which the victims of an onslaught were penalized and the aggressors allowed to go free. This is not the first example of inaction by law enforcers, and many remain pessimistic that justice will be done.
In the North Sumatra capital of Medan, law enforcers have yet to meet the calls for justice from the families of six inmates who were burned alive in a prison riot last March. Ten months later, many now believe that police are hoping the public will simply forget since the victims were convicts.
This will not be so easy for the families. They recently protested the police inertia and were told that an investigation was underway. Why the police are moving at such a glacial pace is unclear as all of the suspects remain in the Tanjung Gusta prison.
In East Java, the police have yet to find the killer of labor activist Marsinah, who was brutally murdered in May 1993. The incident was widely covered in the international press and it is not only Indonesians that are waiting for answers.
The National Commission on Human Rights will have to be patient. The legal mechanism here works slowly and in the case of the PDI, it may move even slower. All of the police officers called as witnesses at the trial of Megawati's supporters claim to have forgotten the things that would serve as mitigating elements for the defendants, such as whether or not they saw any PDI activists wearing red T-shirts at the time.
Megawati's supporters were sentenced to the time they had already spent in jail, yet Soerjadi's followers have yet to face criminal charges. Many legal experts would call it a political game.