Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is calling on the political elite from the presidential election campaign teams of Joko Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin (TKN) and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno (BPN) to take responsibility for the riots in Jakarta on May 22.
Kontras believes that instead of cooling down the atmosphere, statements by both camps have instead inflamed the situation.
“Both parties continued to make public statements which further inflamed the situation (attached). Instead of cooling down the atmosphere, the statements by both camps in fact worsened the situation both before and after the KPU [General Election Commission] declared the winner of the pilpres [presidential election”, read a statement by Kontras received by Detik.com on Wednesday evening May 22.
Kontras said that following the KPU announcement that Widodo had won the election, there were riots in several parts of the capital, namely in Petamburan, Slipi, KS Tubun, Sabang and Wahid Hasyim. As a result of the riots several people were killed and many others injured.
“Based on the initial results from several hospitals and on the ground, we recorded that at least 300 people suffered injuries, 10 were seriously injured, and five dead whose identities have been verified, several of the victims that died and were identified suffered gunshot wounds in the chest and neck. We also established that the demonstrators came from a variety of areas, such as Tangerang, Bekasi, Bangka, Bogor, and Depok, in general they were teenagers”, they said.
Kontras also believes that the government’s move to restrict access to information by blocking social media platforms did not help control the situation. The move showed a lack of responsibility on the part of the state.
“The government’s move to restrict access to information did not help control the situation and showed that a lack of responsibility on the part of the state. On the other hand, the statements by the political elite from both camps showed their failure to apply self-censorship of their remarks, such as [those made by Security Minister Wiranto] and [Prabowo supporter] Amien Rais”, they said.
As a consequence of the incident, Kontras is urging the police to guarantee citizen’s security and minimalise violence. Kontras is also calling on both cams to stop inflaming the situation by making provocative statements.
“First, police officials [must] ensure freedom of association and expression and protection and security guarantees, including minimalising all forms of repression which could further escalate the violence and loss of life. We call on the police to continue to use the principles of proportionality as well as respect, esteem, protection and the fulfillment of human rights as a guideline in responding to and dealing with mass actions in the field. Second, the political elite from both camps (the government and Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno) [must] stop making statements and policies which could trigger an escalation of violence, as well as making an active effort to diffuse the situation and what has happened”, they said in closing.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Kontras Desak Elite Politik Setop Keluarkan Pernyataan yang Picu Kerusuhan”.]
