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It's
About Time
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The
Jakarta Post May
9, 2003
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It's About Time
May 9, 2003
12:05 AM,
Laksamana.Net -
Almost exactly five years after the May 1998 riots that killed
nearly 1,200 people in Jakarta, the government-sponsored National
Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has finally said what
everyone already knew: the riots were systematically organized.
However, Komnas HAM stopped short of naming the members of the
military and political elite who masterminded that May 13-15 riots
that precipitated the downfall of former dictator Suharto.
"[The riots] did not take place spontaneously, but were
systematically planned for widespread mayhem," Komnas HAM
spokesman Enny Suprapto was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse
on Thursday (8/5/03).
He said the riots were instigated by groups of provocateurs that
encouraged mobs to loot shops and buildings.
The riots started a day after state security forces shot dead four
students at the end of an anti-government protest at West
Jakarta’s elite Trisakti University. The breakdown in security
amid spiraling inflation and economic collapse resulted in Suharto
resigning on May 21, 1998.
Although Suprapto declined to name those suspected of organizing
the violence, he said a team of Komnas HAM investigators plans to
question several high-ranking military and police officers who
were in charge of security at the time of the mayhem.
Among those to be questioned are former Indonesian Armed Forces
commander General Wiranto, former chief of the Army’s Strategic
Reserve Command (Kostrad) Prabowo Subianto, and former Jakarta
Military Police chief Major General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin.
Suprapto said the commission will send a letter to incumbent
military commander General Endiartono Sutarto and ask a Jakarta
district court to issue an order to summon the officers, by force
if necessary.
Investigators won’t be able to question former Jakarta Police
chief Inspector General Hamami Nata, who was responsible for the
capital’s security during the unrest, because he died on May 1
at the age of 57.
The Komnas HAM team said the riots were due to a power struggle
among the country’s political forces and the deteriorating
economic situation.
The main victims of the riots were looters who entered buildings
and malls that were subsequently set alight and destroyed.
Also among the victims were ethnic Chinese, who have long been
resented for their financial acumen. Hundreds of shops owned by
ethnic Chinese were looted and destroyed during the riots.
Human rights activists say several hundred ethnic Chinese were
killed and at least 168 ethnic Chinese females were systematically
raped or gang-raped during the unrest.
The riots were first officially investigated by the so-called
Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF), which established that some of the
rioting had been provoked by individual members of the military
under orders of some of their senior officers. However, the team
said the military institution as whole could not be blamed.
TGPF head Marzuki Darusman on November 3, 1998, said that members
of the military and the political elite were directly involved in
the riots and had instigated the atrocities in the hope that by
provoking chaos, they could justify the imposition of martial law.
One of the names mentioned as being responsible for the riots was
then Sjafrie Sjamsuddin, who is now spokesman of the Indonesian
Defense Forces.
The TGPF said it had verified 66 cases of rape were perpetrated
during the riots, but could not say whether the crimes were
organized or spontaneous. However, sources say the team failed to
announce the full results of its investigations because of strong
outside pressures.
Wiranto repeatedly insisted there was no evidence that mass rapes
had taken place, although he later conceded that troops were
"involved" in the riots.
The TGPF’s findings and recommendations were never acted on.
Several of the most momentous and bloody events of Indonesia’s
history remain shrouded in mystery and have never been
satisfactorily resolved.
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