Missing poet named the recipient of rights award

Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Wiji Thukul, a critical poet who has been missing for almost five years and was declared as a person "forced to disappear" by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) two and a half years ago, has been named as the recipient of the Yap Thiam Hien Award -- a human rights award -- for 2002.

The adjudicators of the award, comprising noted legal experts, educators, human rights activists, and sociologists, said on Tuesday that the award was given to Wiji not because he had been missing since February 1998, when demands for reforms and regime change nearly reached their peak in May 1998, but because of his struggle to defend human rights in the country.

"Even if he was not missing, he deserved to be awarded," said Asmara Nababan, one of the voters.

Asmara, who is also former secretary general of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), added that the award should be a strong reminder to Indonesians that these disappearances were still rampant in the country.

"The award also reminds us that we still owe the family, friends, and loved ones of those who have been taken by force in this country. And the state, especially the government, bears the greatest responsibility," Asmara said in a media briefing.

Born in a poor family in Solo, Central Java, Wiji Thukul, whose real name is Wiji Widodo, was put in jail several times during Soeharto's authoritarian regime.

Beaten with the butt of a rifle during a labor rally left him with only the use of his right eye.

Wiji recited his poems to poor people, laborers in urban areas and plantations, as well as farmers, villagers, and university students.

"He never recited any conventions, standards, or other instruments on the promotion of human rights. Instead, he taught marginalized people to fight for their rights that have been robbed by a tyrannical regime through his simple, understandable, and crystal-clear poems," the adjudicators said in a statement.

Wiji had to move from one town to another as the military pursued him over an absurd accusation that he was a perpetrator in the July 27, 1996 incident, when a government-backed party faction forcefully took over the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) that was still occupied by loyal supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The last time he contacted his wife and two children was in February 1998, when he promised with trembling voice he would come home to celebrate Idul Fitri that year. He never showed up.

"Wiji is a humble man who is able to express the norms and commitment to human rights. It would not surprise me if he had become a professor or a legal expert but this freedom of expression comes from being the son of a pedicab driver who dropped out of senior high school. We need lots more people like him who are aware of their rights," Azyumardi Azra told the Post.

Wiji attended many rallies and strikes for laborers and farmers' welfare across Java. He received the Weirthem Encourage Award in 1991.

Wiji's modesty was expressed in his interview with a literary magazine in 1994. He said: "I don't want to be recognized as a hero because of my efforts to fight for the rights of the poor. Really, I just speak for myself. Look at me, I am only a carpenter, my wife is a seamstress, my father is a pedicab driver, my father-in-law sells second-hand goods, and I'm surrounded by poor people."

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said the Yap Thiam Hien award has been given to human rights defenders every year since 1992.

"It is for the people who are not only are involved in demonstrations, strikes, or court battles but also those from the world of intellectual pursuits, that make efforts for the betterment of human rights conditions in this country," he said.

Before he disappeared, before Soeharto was deposed, Wiji penned this poem. As cruel as Nero, As fascistic as Hitler, So sly, so deceitful, He toys with Democracy, Human rights are interpreted as he wishes, Swallow our gold our forest our lives, How many more buckets of blood will you drink?