Protests greet human rights day

JAKARTA (JP): The 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was marked here on Thursday with crowds of people from different backgrounds taking to the capital's streets to press their demands on various issues, including an end to human rights violations.

The massive protests, estimated at more than 10,000 participants, took place at different locations throughout the city, leading to one of the heaviest traffic congestions that Jakarta has seen this year, as most of the major thoroughfares and toll roads were packed with nervous motorists until late in the evening.

The scene became worse when some of the motorists drove down streets in the wrong direction in order to reach their destinations.

Under the scorching midday sun, the protesters, divided into dozens of groups, had different agendas, but most attempted to breakthrough the military and police cordons in order to reach the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) building on Jl. Gatot Subroto in Central Jakarta.

While most of the protesters marched hand in hand, others rallied in overloaded buses, minibuses and motorcycles.

No serious clashes were recorded, although both protesters and security authorities struggled to carry out their respective missions.

One minor clash between some 3,000 City Forum (Forkot) protesters and police occurred in front of the Jakarta Police headquarters in the vicinity of the Semanggi cloverleaf in the afternoon, but no injuries were reported.

Judging from their banners, statements and speeches, the masses were protesting against the government's and military's violations of human rights in Aceh, Tanjung Priok (North Jakarta), East Timor and the killings and kidnappings of student activists in Jakarta.

The protesters also continued to demand the trial of former president Soeharto, as well as demanding that the so-called unknown parties stop provoking the people to fight among themselves with their political maneuvers.

At about 10 p.m., Thursday night, the last protesters on the streets -- the Forkot activists who occupied the toll road next to the Jakarta Convention Center near the MPR building -- peacefully dispersed.

Their withdrawal was joyfully greeted by members of the Police Mobile Brigade, who had been monitoring the protesters.

In the late afternoon, some 500 students grouped in the Communication Forum of Jakarta Student Senate (FKSMJ) reached the toll road in front of the Assembly building, occupying the site for hours.

They held a free speech forum in front of the nearby Manggala Wanabhakti building complex, eventually dispersing peacefully after they were unsuccessful in their negotiations with security officers to reach the MPR building.

A spokesman of FKSMJ, Jamaluddin, said that the group called on the government to apply a travel ban to Soeharto, and asked for transparency in the probe of Soeharto's wealth.

Among the first rallies held on Thursday was the one organized by Rakyat Miskin Kota (Urban Poor Consortium) at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

Carrying banners and dozens of "dead bodies" made of cardboard, newspapers and black plastic bags, the group of some 500 pedicab drivers, workers and the recently unemployed marched north to the fountain near the Bank Indonesia building.

There, they wrapped the nearby Arjuna Wijaya monument, which depicts a scene from the Bharatayuda war between the Pandawa and Kurawa brothers, in a black banner that read: "Stop money politics and politics of violence," and "Return the ear of the state."

The "bodies" were then thrown in the pond which surrounds the monument.

"Protesting at the statue of Bharatayuda, which was a war among brothers, expresses our rejection of people being pitted against each other, which we fear will still happen in the future," Rahman, of the Great Jakarta Union, said.

A day earlier, President B.J. Habibie, in his nationally televised speech to mark the human rights declaration, warned the people that mass actions, especially those which were marred by vandalism and looting, were against the spirit of the declaration itself.

At about noon at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, some 200 activists from 26 nongovernmental organizations staged another rally, protesting the human rights violations which they said had taken place over the last 32 years.

Other big crowds of protesters were also seen marching along the streets of Menteng, Senen, in the Gambir area and in the area around the National Monument.

These protesters included some 4,000 activists from the Student Action Front for Reform and Democracy, 3,000 students from Students' and People's Action for Human Rights, 1,500 students from the Joint Forum, 1,000 students from the Indonesian Students Action Parliament, 1,000 students from the University of Trisakti's Big Family and 100 students from Jakarta's Art Institute.

"Gosh ... it's up to them then. This day is theirs," Central Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said.

Meanwhile, during the "official" ceremony celebrating the human rights declaration at the United Nations Information Center here, the resident coordinator for UN Operational Activities in Indonesia, G. Ravi Rajan, said that the world body will continue to help the Indonesian government implement human rights in the country. (emf/anr/ivy/edt/ylt/bsr)