Rights body joins chorus to reopen Tanjung Priok case

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights joined a growing chorus yesterday calling on the government to reopen the case of a bloody riot in Jakarta's Tanjung Priok Port district nearly 14 years ago.

Commission leaders, during a meeting with Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto, proposed the establishment of a "truth and reconciliation commission" to look into the Tanjung Priok riot and other similar cases in which people felt injustices had occurred.

Commission deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman cited the July 27, 1996 riot in Jakarta as another example of an unresolved case.

"We can't ignore what happened in the past, but we can't let these cases drag on for ever," Marzuki told reporters after the meeting.

"We propose that this (new) commission seek to explain these events and find ways of resolving the problem as best as possible so that we can turn a new page."

Relatives of hundreds of people who went missing after the Sept. 12, 1984 Tanjung Priok riot have been pressing the government of President B.J. Habibie to reopen the case which they describe as a massacre.

They were joined by survivors of the incident.

They demanded the military come clean and admit the high death toll, and disclose the location where their loved ones are buried.

The military has claimed that only 18 people were killed when soldiers opened fire on antigovernment protesters who had been agitated by Moslem preachers that night.

Dozens of the preachers and rioters were tried and convicted, and the government has subsequently declared the case closed.

But relatives of the victims -- more than 400 at the last count -- are disputing the military's version of events and therefore the court verdicts, and demand that the military leaders at the time be held accountable for the shootings.

The Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) joined the debate yesterday, with acting chairman Achmad Tirtosudiro saying that while the case was closed in a political sense, "legally, it is not necessarily settled, and can be reopened".

Achmad said ICMI was following the debate very closely.

He noted that the government had reopened old cases as President Habibie released several political prisoners and reinstated their names. "But when it comes to this (Tanjung Priok) case, a decision has yet to be made," he said.

Parni Hadi, general manager of Republika daily which reflects ICMI's position, said the way his newspaper had consistently covered the issue "shows that ICMI cares a lot about the efforts to resolve this case".

Relatives of the victims have formed a group called National Solidarity for the 1984 Tanjung Priok Affair (Sontak), which has been lobbying for the case to be reopened.

They are specifically targeting former vice president Gen. (ret.) Try Sutrisno and former defense minister Gen. (ret.) L.B. Moerdani, respectively the Jakarta military commander and Armed Forces commander at the time. They held the two men accountable for giving the order to open fire at the crowd.

They disputed the military's claim that soldiers opened fire in self-defense, arguing that the protesters had gone unarmed to the local military office to seek the release of four colleagues who had been detained in connection with a fight with a soldier.

Try responded to the demands this week, saying that while he was prepared to give testimony, he called on the people to give the case a rest and to look ahead instead reopening old wounds. (imn/byg/emb)