Protests greet human rights day

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)