Justice wanted for Semanggi victims
Justice wanted for Semanggi victims
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hundreds of students from various universities in Jakarta
demanded that the government, and in particular the Attorney
General's Office, uphold justice and punish those responsible for
the Semanggi I incident on Nov. 13, 1998.
The demand was conveyed during the fifth annual commemoration
of the incident, which killed 12 people including university
students.
The parents of Bernardus "Wawan" R. Norman Irawan, a student
of Atma Jaya Catholic University who was killed by gunfire, urged
the government to give their son justice.
"Our children were killed. We have been fighting for justice
but the House of Representatives has hampered the fight,"
Sumarsih, Wawan's mother, said in a speech in front of the
Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta.
The students also demanded that the government provide justice
to the victims of the Semanggi I, Semanggi II and Trisakti
incidents by setting up an ad hoc court human rights court.
The Semanggi case files, along with those on the two other
shooting incidents, are in the hands of the Attorney General's
Office but the investigation has yet to start due to a finding by
legislators that no human rights violations occurred in the three
incidents.
So far, the only action taken has been by a military court,
which convicted and sentenced a number of junior soldiers.
The senior military officers allegedly responsible for the
shootings so far appear untouchable. They refused to answer
summonses from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
HAM) during its probe of the case.
The Semanggi I incident occurred when military troops tried to
disperse thousands of demonstrators who had gathered in front of
the Atma Jaya University at the Semanggi cloverleaf in Central
Jakarta. A hail of bullets killed several people who were
attempting to march to the House of Representatives compound to
stop a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly.
Besides Wawan, the bullets also killed Sigit Prasetyo of YAI
Accountant College; Teddy Madani of the Indonesian Technology
Institute in Serpong, Tangerang; and Muzamil Djoko Purwanto and
Abdullah, both from the University of Indonesia.
Before rallying in front of the Attorney General's Office,
students on Thursday visited Wawan's grave at the Joglo public
cemetery in West Jakarta.
They went back to Atma Jaya University in the afternoon to
place flowers at the spot where the killings occurred.
Their action led to heavy congestion along Jl. Jend. Sudirman
for about half an hour.
Thursday's rally was a part of a series of commemorative
events, including a photo exhibition, a theater performance and a
discussion.