Solemn prayers mark tragic May 1998 riots

JAKARTA (JP): Families of those who perished in the May 1998 riots remembered their loved ones with prayers at the Pondok Rangon cemetery in East Jakarta on Sunday.

The cemetery is the resting place of over 1,000 unidentified victims of the violence that swept through the capital from May 13 to May 15, 1998, one of the bloodiest incidents in the country's history.

The riots broke out three years ago following the fatal shooting of four Trisakti University students during a mass demonstration on their campus in West Jakarta on May 12, 1998.

The coordinator of the May Tragedy Commemoration, Rinto Tri Hasworo, said as quoted by Antara that the prayers and gathering were meant to show the solidarity of the families of those who have perished in violent incidents.

"We are gathering all of the families of victims of violence, not only those from the mid-May riots but also from various incidents such as the Semanggi shootings (in 1998) and the Christmas bombings (in 2000)," Rinto said during the gathering at the cemetery on Sunday.

Those at the gathering, organized by the Humanitarian Volunteers, remembered several tragic incidents such as the tragedy at Klender Plaza in East Jakarta, where hundreds of people were burned to death on May 12, 1998.

"It's very difficult to ask for legal accountability in these kinds of cases ... it's even harder to ask the government to care for the graves of the victims of violence," Rinto said.

A similar gathering was held at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta and at Fatahillah museum in Kota area, West Jakarta.

About 30 relatives of May 1998 riot victims grouped in the Solidarity of Chinese Indonesian Youths for Justice held a peaceful rally at the Fatahillah Museum.

The protesters, wearing traditional Chinese outfits, carried pictures of their relatives killed in the riots.

They demanded the government follow up the investigation into the May 1998 riots with legal action against those responsible for the violence. They also demanded the government end all forms of discrimination against Indonesians of Chinese descent.

The commemoration of the May 1998 riots on Sunday followed Saturday's commemoration of the May 12, 1998, shooting at Trisakti University, which left four students dead.

The shooting sparked days of massive unrest and rioting in the capital, eventually forcing president Soeharto from office.

The Trisakti shooting was commemorated at four separate locations in the capital -- the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, the Semanggi cloverleaf, the Trisakti University campus and Jl. Proklamasi.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, Hendardi, said on Sunday the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the police should be held responsible for the fatal shooting at the Trisakti campus.

"The demand for accountability must be pursued through a fair trial, and whoever is guilty in the incident must be punished," Hendardi said in a statement.

He urged the House of Representatives to demand this accountability from the TNI and the police. He said the House's special committee investigating the incident had been used by former military and police officers to clear themselves of guilt in the incident.

"What we need is an ad hoc trial for the case. The House did not seem to have the commitment to organize a trial for the case," he said. (edt/jun)