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authorities to act on its recommendation to rescind the outdated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According to the commission, the law is outdated and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.