SBY urged to probe July 27 PDI attack

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government to restart investigations into the bloody July 27, 1996, mob attack on their former headquarters as they commemorated the incident on Wednesday.

Under a tight guard of more than 200 police, the supporters held prayers and political speeches to remember the incident, which official data says killed five people, injured 159 others and left 23 people missing; many of whom are thought to have been abducted by security forces.

The 1996 attack by armed, plainclothes mobs on the headquarters of Megawati Soekarnoputri's then-named Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), in Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, was seen as an effort by the Soeharto government to crush opposition to it. At the time, Megawati was fast rising in popularity throughout the country. In the months following the attack, she set up a new party -- the PDI-P.

However, the former president, who is struggling to resolve internal conflict in her party, did not attend the Wednesday ceremony. Megawati has been criticized by PDI-P supporters for not attending other commemorations.

"The government (of Susilo) is obliged to explain the July 27 incident to the public, because the incident was a form of human rights violation. It is the state's duty to prosecute and, of course, the victims have the right to know the truth," Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy executive director Ifdal Kasim said.

"Even if the government decides not to proceed with the case, it must (officially) tell the public why," Ifdal said quoted by Antara.

There are doubts, however, that Susilo will revive investigations into the case, which have stopped and started since Soeharto's resignation.

Susilo was chief of staff of the Jakarta Military Command when the July 27 violence broke out. A team comprising members of the Military Police, National Police and the Attorney General's Office questioned him twice as a witness in the case in 2000 and 2001.

In the Yogyakarta regency of Bantul, the commemoration of the July 27 incident was held in front of the party's regional office, with about 300 people gathering for a mass prayer to remember the victims.