'United, victims are invincible'

'United, victims are invincible'

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The events of Nov. 18, 1998 were sobering for Maria Catarina
Sumarsih, as they were for the nation, yet they also sparked in
her the drive to fight for human rights.

When she received last Friday the Yap Thiam Hien Award, the
fifty-two-year-old joined a list of lauded activists that
includes the late Munir and Wiji Thukul. Although, she confessed,
early on she had known little about rights issues.

"I was just a regular -- a common housewife -- who had worked
and raised her kids as normal. I didn't even know what an
activist was. There was nothing extraordinary about me, and
there's still nothing," she said after receiving the prestigious
award.

Her days as an "ordinary" housewife, however, were numbered.
During a massive demonstration at the Semanggi cloverleaf in
Jakarta on Nov. 18, 1988 her son, Bernardinus Realino Norma
Irawan, was killed along with 16 others in a shooting spree.

"It broke my heart," she said, though the words were barely
audible.

"My life virtually stopped, particularly knowing that my son
was just on a voluntary mission to help the victims in the
incident," she said.

Although she had vowed to seek justice for her son, Sumarsih
did not pursue an inquiry into his death straightaway. Like most
people -- and perhaps most families of the victims -- she sat
back with her husband and daughter, waiting for the government to
resolve the case and take the guilty ones to court for
prosecution.

But justice never arrived. Not even when nine people,
including students, were shot to death during a demonstration in
the same spot a year later.

Feeling betrayed, Sumarsih began to take action, joining with
families of the victims of both tragedies and non-governmental
organizations.

"We all came to government agencies that we thought had the
authority to handle the cases, like the defense ministry and even
the State Palace, demanding a resolution. Not once, not twice --
all the time," she said.

The victims are also seeking assistance from political parties
(though not the Golkar Party), the House of Representatives, the
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and United
Nations representatives.

Yet their attempts seemed to have come to no avail when a
House plenary session declared that no human rights violations
had occurred in the killing tragedies.

"Even the Attorney General's Office (AGO), which was our last
hope, said the same thing. It felt like the world had turned
upside down. It even crossed my mind that what we were doing was
in vain. I almost gave up," she said.

But the thought of her son, and the humanitarian work he had
been doing, became her strength. "It motivated me," the woman
said as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Once, in 2001, Sumarsih, who works at the House secretariat,
hurled rotten eggs from the balcony of the House building at
legislators passing by while shouting, "The House does not
represent us at all!"

"I felt good about that. I really did," she said, although she
quickly added that she also felt fortunate she did not lose her
job.

Despite the statements issued by the House and the AGO,
Sumarsih never succumbed. Her focus, which was mainly on the
Semanggi tragedies, shifted to include other human rights abuse
cases.

Staging rallies, standing in front of crowds and criticizing
the government's apathy become a regular activity.

It's tiring sometimes. But whenever I visit my son's grave,
the spirit returns. I feel like there's no stopping us, and this
fight must continue, at least to honor my son and other sons who
died in the name of truth," said Sumarsih, who visits her son's
grave every day.

They are used to coming up against resistance as they are
often forced to work against the system.

"It's the police. It's the military. It's they who are armed.
They just keep getting in our way. Either they block us when
we're demonstrating, or torment us. They're the ones who make
this more difficult -- maybe because our struggle regards them
and their friends," she suggested.

Aside from human rights cases, Sumarsih has also staged
rallies to protest laws, including the one that would fortify the
military's grip on the legislature, and the truth and
reconciliation law, which would "erase" past rights abuses.

Six years have gone by and four new presidents have been
inaugurated since the fall of Soeharto, but the truth remains
hidden, while political and economic issues take priority.

"But I won't give up. The truth must be heard. I understand
that someone's death is in God's hands, but how they die must be
in a reasonable way. If they died because of the government's
greed for power -- and violence -- someone must be responsible,"
said Sumarsih.

She said she would dedicate the Yap Thiam Hien Award to her
son's memory, though personally she does not crave recognition.
Regardless, it cannot be denied that she has inspired new
activists, who the country badly needs, and continues to do so.

"She may have been self-centered in her reasoning at the start
-- in trying to find out who killed her son. But as time goes by,
she has evolved into being an undaunted fighter, who embraces
many victims whose rights have been abused and, most importantly,
she speaks out for them," noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis
commented.

"My knowledge may not be great, but I do know that, united,
victims are invincible," Sumarsih said.