Putu Merta Surya Putra, Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) cadres and sympathisers commemorated the Kudatuli incident (the July 27, 1996 riots) on Friday July 26 by holding a long-march from the PDI-P Central Leadership Board (DPP) office on Jalan Diponegoro to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) office on Jalan Latuarhary.
The event was held in the context of urging the Komnas HAM to recommend that the Kudatuli incident be declared a gross human rights violation.
Aside from PDI-P members and sympathiser, the families of the victims of the Kudatuli incident also took part. They marched wearing black T-shirts and carrying red-and-white flags and black umbrellas.
In a speech in front of the Komnas HAM office PDI-P, DPP Chairperson Djarot Syaiful Hidayat said he hopes that the Kudatuli incident will not happen again under a future government. He emphasised that justice must be upheld and the truth must be articulated.
"We urge the National Human Rights Commission to recommend to the government that the attack on the pro-Mega [Megawati Sukarnoputri] PDI [Indonesian Democratic Party] DPP offices on Jalan Diponegoro Number 58 in Central Jakarta on July 27, 1996 be declared as a gross human rights violation and become the government's responsibility", he said.
Hidayat believes that in a case of gross human rights violations, even though the attack occurred 28 years ago, there is no statue of limitations on investigating and prosecuting a crime.
Hidayat said that the July 27 attack was a form of political intervention by the New Order regime of former president Suharto against the pro-Megawati PDI camp.
At the time, the New Order regime is said to have encouraged the pro- Soerjadi camp to carry out the attack. "As a consequence of the attack according to the facts discovered by Komnas HAM, 149 people were injured. Nine people died and 23 people went missing", said Hidayat.
Komnas HAM study
Meanwhile, Komnas HAM Chairperson Atnike Nova Sigiro said that they are in the process of completing a study into the Kudatuli incident.
According to Sigiro, the results of the study will be taken to the House of Representatives (DPR). From there, Komnas HAM will determine whether or not the incident can be categorised as a gross human rights violation.
"In not too long a time, (it is expected) that the study will be completed. But it hasn't yet been discussed and finalised at the plenary level", Sigiro said during an audience with PDI-P DPP representatives at the Komnas HAM offices.
Sigiro said that Komnas HAM has worked seriously on the study even though the attack occurred about 28 years ago. "We are seriously committed to working on the study and later what future step will be decided on by the Komnas HAM", she said.
Product of political intervention
Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid highlighted that the Kudatuli incident was a product of government political intervention.
Hamid also explained that the attack on the PDI offices on July 27 should be referred to as a "raid" or attack, not a "riot".
"The term attack, it shows that there was one party from the security forces along with a group of thugs who deliberately used violence, attacked the PDI secretariat, and used violence to remove all the people there", said Hamid in a discussion titled Kudatuli, We Won't Forget at the PDI-P DPP office on Saturday July 20.
Hamid added that the attack was aimed at sidelining the Megawati leadership as part of efforts to eliminate political opposition.
"So, at that point, clearly the July 27 incident was an incident that was born as a product of political intervention by the authorities, including the politics of state violence in the form of the forced takeover and arrests, the attack, and so on", he said.
Hamid also emphasised the involvement of security forces in the attack, even though many wore civilian clothing.
"However, even though the TNI [Indonesian military, then called ABRI] officers, for example, wore civilian clothing, the police still clearly wore official uniforms and participated in the attack or breaking up the free speech forum near the PDI office at the time", said Hamid.
Notes
Following Megawati Sukarnoputri's popular election as chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in 1996, the Suharto regime, who feared a PDI lead Megawati (who could draw upon the tremendous popularity of her father Sukarno, the founding president of Indonesia) might threaten the state party Golkar's dominance in the upcoming 1997 elections, sponsored a rebel PDI congress in Medan, North Sumatra, and succeeded in replacing her with their own pro-regime candidate, Soerjadi. Following weeks of protests and the occupation of party's headquarters in central Jakarta by pro-Megawati PDI supporters, on July 27 paid thugs backed by the military attacked and destroyed the PDI offices resulting in the death of as many as 50 people. Popular outrage at the attack sparked several days of mass rioting and violent clashes which the police blamed on the People's Democratic Party (PRD), who's members were subsequently hunted down and arrested as the masterminds behind the riots.
[Translated by James Balowski. Slightly abridged due to repetition. The original title of the article was "Peringati Kudatuli, PDIP Desak Komnas HAM Nyatakan Sebagai Pelanggaran Berat".]
