SBY urged to probe July 27 PDI attack

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.