Uncover the truth
Uncover the truth
Whatever one may say or think about President B.J. Habibie, it
cannot be denied that the new de facto head-of-state and head-of-
government at least seems to be sincerely trying to live up to
the gargantuan challenges he is facing. His instructions to the
Armed Forces (ABRI) leadership to dig up the truth over
allegations that a certain "organized group" was behind last
month's riots, for example, is a step in the right direction.
Speaking to more than 150 top-ranking Armed Forces officers at
Jakarta's presidential palace on Thursday, Habibie called on ABRI
to conduct a thorough investigation into the riots and present a
straightforward clarification of the issue to the public.
Suspicions that at least one organized group played a part in
inciting the riots that ravaged Jakarta and Surakarta last month
was mentioned publicly for the first time early this month by
Baharuddin Lopa, the secretary-general of this country's
respected human rights watchdog, the National Commission on Human
Rights. Although Baharuddin mentioned no names, he said the
inquiries which the commission had made led it to conclude that
"organized groups" had made use of the prevailing situation to
incite trouble.
A similar public allegation was made earlier this week by
Amien Rais, the chairman of the Muhammadiyah Islamic
organization. Speaking to an assemblage of 2,000 Chinese-
Indonesians in Surakarta on Wednesday, Amien said he had received
information that the riots which erupted in several towns during
the middle of last month were not spontaneous incidents but were
masterminded by "puppeteers". "Who those puppeteers are, we will
come to know later," he said. Accounts of groups of people being
"dropped" by trucks at some of the city's worst flash points
during the rioting, however, were in fact first reported to the
media at the time the looting and burning was taking place.
To make things worse, a strong suspicion, rightly or wrongly,
is forming in society that the rape and brutalization of innocent
women, mostly of Chinese-Indonesian descent, was committed by the
same, or by similar "organized groups" that started the looting
and burning. In the meantime, even after all the time that has
elapsed since Pius Lustrilanang made his sensational revelations
about his abduction in April, investigators still have not come
up with a convincing answer -- or, in fact, with any answer at
all -- to who was behind the disappearance and alleged torture of
opposition activists. To further add to the complications, the
suspicion that the police officers currently on trial in the
Trisakti student shooting case are mere scapegoats designed to
protect the real guilty parties, refuses to die.
As all these questions remain unanswered, the public outrage
over these perceived wrongs tends to pile up, rather than die
down. The unfortunate way events are unfolding is that,
unavoidably, the public's suspicions tend to be aimed at a number
of members of what is perceived to be the only "organized
institution" in this country capable of committing these acts,
namely the Armed Forces.
Considering all this, and given the crucial role which the
Indonesian Armed Forces still plays in practically every sector
of our public life, it is in all our interests that a
satisfactory explanation for all those events be given as soon as
possible. For the Armed Forces in particular, the importance of
doing so cannot be overstated.
One reminder, though, is in order: Any explanation that is
given must be straightforward, honest and convincing. Unless
these criteria are met, it is difficult to expect the current
public skepticism to ease. At stake is the credibility of the
government, and with it the immediate outlook for this nation's
well-being.