No massacre in Tanjung Priok?

Our sense of justice was wounded on learning of the conclusion drawn by KP3T (Commission to Investigate Past Human Rights Abuses in Tanjung Priok) that no proof has been found of mass killings during the 1984 tragedy. Furthermore, according to the commission, the incident was an accident and was not planned in advance. The troops were forced to shoot because the crowd resisted.

Nor was that all. According to the commission, human rights abuses were committed not only by the security forces, but also by the crowd. The people were accused of having killed nine security personnel as well as attacking the officers and setting fire to a house of worship. The report was sent to the House of Representatives and the President instead of to the Attorney General's Office, as was the case with the earlier reports on East Timor.

Anybody's sense of justice would be injured on reading the KP3T's report. The Tanjung Priok tragedy, which occurred on Sept. 12, 1984, was a human rights violation and this is supported by facts and is easy enough for anyone to see. Witnesses, press documents, the perpetrators and graves and other facts are there as proof that during the night of the tragedy the officers fired into the crowd without warning. It is easy enough to prove that the massacre was politically and ideologically motivated, and therefore planned.

The KP3T's conclusions not only impair the people's trust in the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), it is an insult to all who have a conscience and believe that truth and justice will somehow be revealed.

-- Republika, Jakarta