Power dictates whether proof of rape exists

Power dictates whether proof of rape exists

By Julia I. Suryakusuma

JAKARTA (JP): "Did the mass rapes (of ethnic Chinese women)
really happen?" Even before the work of the government-sponsored
joint fact-finding team is completed, a number of government
officials have raised this nagging question. This has sparked a
public debate -- and generated much confusion -- which has served
to obscure rather than clarify the matter. This debate has
centered around the presence or absence of bukti (evidence).

In Indonesia, evidence is intimately connected to power, may
it be state power, parental power, male power or others.
"Evidence" requires the verification of those in power.

In the absence of a legal system fully independent from the
executive (read: the military), "evidence" is ultimately
something held in the hands of the rulers.

In fact, one might say that the presence of "evidence" is
inversely proportional to the accused party's proximity to power.

Minister of Defense and Security Gen. Wiranto recently made a
statement regretting that the Commission on Human Rights had
released a report about mass graves in Aceh, Sumatra, without
consulting the Army first.

Despite the exhumation of mass graves, as long as the military
doubts these killings happened during this decade (for obvious
reasons of interest), it will not be said to be "proven".

Or consider Soeharto's challenge to the public to "prove" his
wealth. It does not matter how many reports come out in the
media. For the moment, Soeharto is still confident enough in his
power, in the fact that he still controls the bureaucracy,
therefore he knows there will not be a shred of evidence found.

Evidence will not materialize if the perpetrators are
perceived to be a part of the same system of power as the
investigators and the judges.

It is not surprising that women raped last May are unwilling
to give testimony to the police, submit their bodies to forensic
examinations by government scientists. All the more so if they
are terrorized into keeping their mouths shut.

The gap between the demands for evidence and the conditions of
the traumatized victims, as well as the continued terror, and
denials especially by government officials -- has been a major
hindrance in solving the crimes.

Recently it has been suggested that since photos of rapes
circulating on the Internet are not photos of the rapes which
occurred last May, that therefore the rapes never happened.

Nothing could be more absurd. Some groups have announced that
the rape photos circulating on the Internet were taken from a
book about human rights violations in East Timor.

One can only speculate about who would be interested in
passing these photos off as photos of the May rapes. However,
their recent misuse does not mean that the original photos were
engineered. In fact, the photos of sexual torture by men in
military uniform in East Timor, also worthy of condemnation in
and of themselves, only supports the possibility of rapes in May
by "trained groups".

It is exceedingly ironic that a regime built on the basis of
historical distortion and a culture of lies, should demand
evidence for an incident that has been officially recognized by
its own government.

In the 32 years of New Order rule, the suffering of millions
of people has been ignored, for the sake of "national stability".
They might consider speaking out, were it not for the fact that
the people were continuously terrorized, pressured and
threatened.

In the New Order there is a tendency to conceal the truth.
Even figures of, say, casualties of a train accident are reduced
by the authorities, let alone incidents that are politically
loaded. This is also the case with figures on poverty,
unemployment and other social indicators.

Evidence is often engineered, as in the cause celebre of
Marsinah (a female labor activist who was tortured and murdered
for demanding higher wages), as well as Udin (a journalist who
was investigating the suspected wealth of the Bantul regent), and
Pak De (a traditional healer who was convicted, but most likely
framed, for the murder of Dietje, a former model who allegedly
had a relationship with a member of the Soeharto family).

All cases are yet to be solved, for lack of "evidence",
although it is heavily suspected that the military/authorities
were involved in all three instances.

Corruption and the appropriation of the people's wealth is
concealed by big "development" projects; decision-making in the
economic and political spheres are never transparent; the
systematic violation of human rights by the state apparatus is
masked by the "refined eastern culture" (of the Javanese), where
the corruptness and degeneracy of the rulers is festooned by
glittering state and military ceremonies.

Elections which are flaunted as a "festival of democracy" in
fact are only a means to squander the people's money to
legitimize the authoritarian rule of a few people, and one despot
in particular.

In this context, the fact that the authorities can still
demand evidence of the May rapes that clearly happened, is
evidence of their arrogance and lack of moral and political
responsibility.

"Evidence" and "truth" are connected to perception, which
cannot be separated from self-perception and self-interest. In
the case of the May rapes, the government has political and
economic interests in denying that the rapes happened.

Politically, they may feel that recognizing the May rapes
would undermine the authority of the government (and the
military). Economically, it seems that some government officials
are defensive due to the pressure of countries populated by
ethnic Chinese, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even
China -- who have threatened economic sanctions if investigations
into the case are not conducted satisfactorily.

"Evidence" is not evidence. Concerning the May rapes, an
independent organization could prove they occurred, as the
Volunteer Group for Humanity has done, by compiling confidential
testimonies of victims. Whether the evidence is accepted is
another matter.

In the context of an authoritarian regime, what counts is not
truth but power, often brute (military) power. The authorities
can "transform" lies into "truth", as "evidence" is an object
that they construct, control and have power over.

The authorities have the means and resources to force their
interpretation of an event and make it into a public truth. This
is something they have done historically, starting with their
interpretation of the alleged Communist coup in 1965 which was
the basis of New Order rule and the legitimator of the systematic
oppression of the people.

Indirectly, this interpretation (read: historical
manipulation) is also the political basis for the discrimination
against the ethnic Chinese as the Indonesian Communist Party was
linked to the communist party in China.

In the case of the May rapes, by continually disbelieving the
evidence that has emerged, the government -- but also the media
and the public -- is treating the victims as the accused.

"Evidence" is not the same as reality, witnesses, let alone
truth. "Evidence" like truth can only emerge in a context that is
free of fear, threats, prejudice, vested interest, an independent
judicial system, a society that is free from collusion,
corruption and nepotism, a culture of openness, justice and
democracy, and a government which is pro-people.

Only then will the "evidence" of the May rapes, which have
already seared the conscience of many Indonesians and raised the
indignation and anger of the international community, be able to
be found.

The writer is a social and political commentator, and an
activist-member of the Indonesian Women's Coalition for Justice
and Democracy.