Frustrated troops storm Jakarta Hospital
Frustrated troops storm Jakarta Hospital
JAKARTA (JP): The quiet surroundings of Jakarta Hospital on
Jl. Sudirman suddenly turned into a war zone on Wednesday
midnight when some 50 frustrated military officers ran amok
searching for suspected militant students hiding on the premises.
The armed security personnel broke into the hospital's four-
story administration building, broke the windows and doors and
fired several gas canisters at the basement, leaving stunned
patients, night-shift nursers, doctors and other staff of the
hospital in terror.
The eight-story patients' building at the back which is also
connected to the administration office was left untouched.
The troops were finally able to drag away some 20 students
from the hospital compound.
After their departure, the four rooms -- respectively used for
the kitchen, administration, central sterilization for surgical
equipment and a laundry -- were heavily damaged.
Part of the partition and ceiling in the administration room
were torn down. Broken glass, doors and tables were strewn across
the floor.
Computers were ripped apart and thrown to the floor. Blood
stains were seen on parts of the floor. A number of machines for
sterilizing surgical equipment were damaged along with an
ambulance.
The hospital management on Thursday estimated the total loss
caused by the brutal security personnel at Rp 3 billion
(US$422,500).
Three witnesses, a nurse, a staffer and a street boy revealed
the nightmare which happened in front of their eyes to reporters
on Thursday.
"I saw the soldiers circling the hospital ... I was so scared
that they might shoot at the main entrance and endanger lives,"
senior nurse Dora who was in charge that night recalled.
Knowing that the troops had ruined the basement area of the
hospital's administration office, Dora then ordered the other
nurses to stay still on their respective wards and floors.
"I then ordered the security guards to seal off every
emergency exit stairs by placing tables and sofas in front of
them to prevent the troops from moving further," she added.
With a flashlight in her hands, Dora also ordered students who
were as usual seeking refuge at the hospital to stay down on the
floor and remain quiet.
Another witness Apip Ridwan, head of the secretarial division,
said that he stayed in the basement to prevent the troops, the
students and several other people who were hiding in the area
from further wrecking hospital assets, especially a roomful of
gas containers.
"When the hospital security guards and I were trying to push
the people out of the hospital, the troops suddenly broke into
the basement and shot at least eight tear gas canisters," Apip
said.
"I saw the troops beating some of the people and dragging them
out of the basement," he added.
The troops, he said, were wearing gas masks.
Arpan, a 14-year-old street child from Ciputat suffered a
swollen face because the troops hit him with sticks.
"I was sleeping in the basement when the troops came and
caught me. They beat me up and left me on the floor," he claimed.
When asked to comment, Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho
Djajoesman told reporters separately that neither the police nor
the military could be condemned for the attack.
"That hospital protects people who have been destructive, and
it takes care of them. Why blame our police or the Army for what
they did," Noegroho said.
"Anyway, for whatever damage was caused, I apologize. I still
think that the hospital should not shelter people who are
destructive," the officer said.
According to chairman of the Jakarta Hospital Foundation,
Royono Murad, the hospital -- due to damage caused during the
brutal attack -- might not be able to carry out any medical
surgery for two and a half months at least.
" ... and we cannot except inpatients", Rayono said.
However, he decided not to file a law suit against the
military.
In response to Noegroho's remarks, Royono said: "We were not
hiding anyone here. They were people asking for help and
hospitals do have a social function. We cannot send people away,"
The raid at the hospital, which has been giving first aid to
injured protesters during clashes with troops during the past few
months, immediately sparked anger from different parties.
"The move was against international humanitarian law," cried
chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Bambang
Widjoyanto.
"Even in the circumstance of war, the law rules some areas
must be protected by both warring parties among others
hospitals," he told a press conference.
Andi Panca, a radio journalist, was also attacked during the
midnight raid by the military.
"They fired tear gas shots at the room while hitting some
journalists and those students with stick batons," he said.
Bambang said the Indonesia Military (TNI) Commander Gen.
Wiranto and the National Police chief Gen Roesmanhadi, should be
held responsible for the attack. (04/asa/ylt)