Komnas pursues May 1998 rioters

Komnas pursues May 1998 rioters

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Those involved in the May 1998 riots may not run free much
longer as the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
and a group of non-governmental organizations have established
separate teams to investigate the riots.

Both aim to create pressure for the holding of ad-hoc trials
for those responsible for the riots.

Solahuddin Wahid, appointed to lead the Komnas HAM team, said
on Monday the team would follow-up on the investigation carried
out by a joint fact finding team (TGPF) in 1998.

Solahuddin, better known as Gus Solah, said that starting next
month, the team would update the facts ascertained by the TGPF to
convince members of House of Representatives (DPR) to recommend
an ad hoc rights court be set up to try those responsible for the
riots.

According to Article 43 of Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights
Tribunals, a tribunal to try gross violations of human rights is
established based on a recommendation from the House and a
presidential decree.

The new Komnas team, which was established last Thursday and
named the May 1998 Riots Study and Advocacy Team, would recruit
15 members. Ten of these members would be those who were involved
with the TGPF.

Since the TGPF first presented its findings, no efforts
official government efforts have been made to uncover those
behind the riots.

The TGPF investigation results, announced on Nov. 3, 1998,
disclosed that several individuals or organizations were involved
in inciting the riot.

They were well-trained individuals who disappeared after they
succeeded in inciting the people to loot and burn stores and
houses mostly belonging to Chinese Indonesians.

Moreover, the report also confirmed the occurrence of rapes
and sexual attacks, although the number of victims was lower than
claimed previously by several NGOs in Jakarta.

The allegation that certain individuals in the armed forces
took an active role in inciting the unrest was also mentioned in
the report.

With regard to the possible involvement of Let. Gen. (ret.)
Prabowo Subianto in the riot, the TGPF recommended that a meeting
at the headquarters of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command
(Kostrad) on May 14, 1998 be investigated.

Besides the Komnas HAM probe, a number of non-governmental
organizations also established their own teams to investigate the
May 1998 riots. The latest NGO team, established last week under
the name of the May 1998 Riots Working Committee (KKTM) will have
16 members.

Judilherry Justam, vice chairman of the KKTM, said it would
complement the work of the Komnas HAM team in terms of data
validation, lobbying legislators, molding public opinion, and
organizing mass rallies to demanding government and legislative
commitment to the supremacy of law.

"On many occasions, the Attorney General's Office refuses the
findings of gross violations of human rights recorded by Komnas
HAM on the grounds of lack of comprehensive evidence. Therefore,
we will try to make the findings as trustworthy as possible," he
told the Post.

Judilherry was speaking on the sidelines of the announcement
of the new teams' missions on Monday.

Both working teams have no structural relationship with each
other, but Gus Solah said that his team would accept all input
from outside sources, including from NGOs as part of civil
society.

He said that his team would interview witnesses like the
victims and their families, volunteers and other parties
concerned with what transpired.

"There is come possibility that we will involve the military
in the interviews as it is the prime suspect in the riots," Gus
Solah said.

Separately, Judilherry said that the biggest obstacle that
both teams would face was political pressures from the suspect
individuals or organizations.

"We can analyze such pressures in the cases of gross human
rights violations in Aceh and the murder of Papuan leader Theys
Hiyo Eluay. What we need today is how to reveal the scenario
behind the tragedy," he said.