Trisakti tragedy fades into oblivion

Berni K. Moestafa and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It was the beginning of the end for former President Soeharto when on May 12, 1998 four students of Trisakti University were shot dead during a peaceful rally demanding political reform.

Eight days after the tragedy Soeharto resigned. The nation saw itself standing at the threshold of democracy. Hopes ran high.

That was four years ago. Now analysts and families of victims fear government ignorance will drag the Trisakti tragedy into oblivion, and with it the country's reform movement.

Ask Bagus Yoga Nandita. The father of Trisakti victim Elang Mulya Lesmana is still waiting for his son's case to be resolved.

"We believe that what happened four years ago to our son was the will of God ... but those responsible for this should be punished," Bagus told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The cases of the other three victims share the same fate.

Elang, Heri Hartanto, Hafhidin Royan, and Hendrawan Sie were shot dead in their campus grounds, as they retreated from a protest that turned violent.

It was the first death among students after weeks of peaceful protests against the Soeharto regime.

Their deaths snowballed the students' calls for reform into public outrage which ensued in rioting across the country and prompted thousands of students to besiege the sprawling complex of the House of Representatives. Calls for Soeharto to resign grew louder.

It was amid this that Soeharto succumbed, ending his 32-year authoritarian regime known as the New Order.

"I am not trying to glorify my son, but what happened four years ago was the beginning of the changes in the country," Bagus said.

The Trisakti tragedy triggered a chain of events that led to Soeharto's downfall, but analysts say the public's recognition of this significance has waned.

The House downplayed the tragedy refusing to call it a gross violation of human rights.

Efforts to hunt down those responsible for the shooting have yielded no results thus far.

The country's human rights commission failed to present a conclusion to its investigation.

Generals who were summoned to the commission's hearing refused to come, ignoring the urging of the families' victims.

Eventually, the commission submitted the case to the Attorney General's Office, which has yet to show any progress.

"I am disappointed as the government and the House had clearly shown no will whatsoever to resolve the case," Bagus said.

Trisakti students have just initiated efforts to bring the case before the international tribunal in The Hague.

"For the sake of my son and to ensure that those bloody actions committed by the government will not happen again, I will not rest until justice is achieved and the perpetrators are brought to trial," Bagus added.

Political observer Hermawan Soelistyo said the uncertain legal efforts reflected the government's denial of the students' sacrifice.

"Many politicians forget that they achieved their positions with the blood that these children had shed," Hermawan said. "They stole the student reform movement."

Munir, founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that judging from the way the government handled the Trisakti tragedy, history would record it as a mere example of state violence.

"The government and the public fail to see the turning point in Trisakti," he said, explaining that Soeharto's downfall led to the current reform era.

Political changes swept the country, which saw the first ever democratic general election in 1999, wide-ranging regional autonomy, and a return to press freedom.

But these achievements ring hollow amid increased corruption practices, the loss of the supremacy of the law, and widespread security problems.

Munir said the failure to grasp the significance of the Trisakti tragedy had caused the country to stray from its original path of reform.

He blamed this collective ignorance on the government.

The government degraded the tragedy from a milestone in the history of this country, into a mere example of state violence, Munir said.

But even then, the death of the four Trisakti students was no deterrent as four more people were killed during the first Semanggi tragedy in November 1998, and another one in the second Semanggi tragedy a year later. The perpetrators of these incidents remain at large.

Arief Triyadi, whose son Bernadinus Realino Norma Irmawan, alias Wawan, was shot dead in the first Semanggi tragedy, said the victims' families were waiting in vain for justice.

"We, the families of the victims, have to realize that one day we may find ourselves alone in our search for justice," he said.

THE DAYS LEADING TO SOEHARTO'S FALL

May 11 Students across the country intensify their rallies demanding reform and Soeharto's resignation.

May 12 Four Trisakti University students are shot dead on the university's campus during a peaceful rally.

May 13 Widespread looting and arson attacks hit the capital, violence directed against Indonesian-Chinese.

May 14 Riots continue and spread to areas surrounding the capital.

May 15 Soeharto arrives from G-15 summit in Cairo amid rioting and mounting calls for his resignation. He refuses to step down.

May 16 People's Consultative Assembly and House of Representative speaker Harmoko announces plan to reshuffle cabinet after meeting Soeharto.

May 17 Calls for Soeharto's resignation continue, mounting public support for the calls.

May 18 Students start occupation of House compound and Harmoko now requests Soeharto to step down.

May 19 Around 30,000 students remain at the House compound, Soeharto sticks to his plan for a cabinet reshuffle.

May 20 Eleven ministers resign, and the students with the support of the public refuse to leave the House compound.

May 21 Soeharto announces: "I quit"