Michael Dorgan, Jakarta – In the worst day of violence since riots brought down President Suharto in May, about a dozen people were killed Friday and hundreds more injured, many critically, as security forces attacked tens of thousands of student demonstrators.
The crackdown came after three days of protests against a special session of the national assembly, which had been called to lay the framework for a democratic government. Students were convinced it would fall far short of that goal. The session did produce a slate of reforms, but as it drew to a close Friday night the most conspicuous outcome was mayhem.
"This is nearing civil war," warned reform leader Amien Rais. "We are now being tested as a nation to solve this problem with a feeling of brotherhood and nationality." There was little brotherhood on the streets. The relative restraint soldiers and police had used to hold protesters at bay throughout most of the four-day special session dissolved on the final day. They attacked the demonstrators with a fury, using water canons, tear gas, batons and rubber bullets.
By early today the violence had subsided but there were no assurances the worst was over. Sirens still screamed along Jakarta's streets. Reports began to filter in of widening unrest nationwide.
A squad of marines, who have a reputation of being sympathetic to the reform movement, had moved onto a downtown campus to protect students from attacks by police, and there were reports of exchanges of gunfire. Another squad of marines was leading a march of students to the parliament building.
Troops from the Strategic Reserves Command, trained in urban warfare, had moved in to secure the downtown area, while elite Special Forces troops had taken over control of protecting the presidential palace.
Poor people in West Jakarta reportedly were stopping cars and robbing those inside, which could signal a beginning to the kind of looting and arson that damaged or destroyed more than 5,000 buildings and left 1,200 people dead in May.
Among those fleeing the city will be large numbers of ethnic Chinese, who were the victims of much of the violence in May. All outgoing flights were booked. Meanwhile, students mobilized for a massive demonstration after burying their dead today.
Trouble everywhere
The unrest is not confined to Jakarta. News reports said protesters had occupied the provincial capital in Medan and were waiting to intercept assembly members returning from Jakarta. And demonstrators reportedly took over the airport in the South Sulawesi city of Ujung Pandang for six hours Friday, demanding that they be given airline tickets so they could join the protests in Jakarta. The central business district of that city of several million was nearly destroyed last year in riots that targeted ethnic Chinese.
Demonstrations also were reported in Yogakarta, Salatiga and Bandung, all of which are cities on the island of Java.
General Wiranto, head of Indonesia's armed forces, urged people to remain calm. "There are a lot of rumors about what is happening in Jakarta," he said Friday. "But I feel the situation is safe and under control."
But reform leader Rais indicated that he believes some rumors to be true. "I don't know what's behind the scenes, but there must be a number of people who want this scenario," he said Friday evening. "How do we calm down the masses? Even those who wanted this out-of-control situation can't control it anymore."
Friday, violence started about 3:30 pm on the capital's main thoroughfare at Atma Jaya University. After blocking several thousands of students who were trying to march to the parliament, troops ordered them to disperse. When the students refused, the security forces attacked.
As snipers fired into the crowd from rooftops, wave after wave of soldiers and police charged into the crowd, beating and shooting people, sometimes at point-blank range. Many broke ranks to chase protesters down side streets or alleys, attacking anyone in their path. In one instance, soldiers chased students into a hospital and shot them. Students responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails as skirmishes continued there and elsewhere late into the night.
The Jakarta Post reported today that four of the people killed were members of the 150,000-strong pro-government youth militia armed with clubs and spears that had been put on the streets earlier in the week, allegedly to defend the assembly. They were beaten to death by neighborhood mobs in East Jakarta, the newspaper said. But most of the victims were students killed or injured by police and soldiers.
At one hospital alone, witnesses said a steady stream of ambulances had delivered about 80 gunshot victims by the time the special session concluded at 9:30 pm with a speech by President B.J. Habibie, who took over in May after serving as Suharto's vice president.
No refuge
A woman in the hospital at that time said some fleeing students had sought refuge there, but troops followed them inside and shot them. "They don't care anymore whether it's students, journalists – they've just lost control," she said. A National Police official said police and soldiers had used only rubber and plastic bullets, but even those can be fatal at close range.
Habibie, in his televised speech, praised the People's Consultative Assembly for being "so open in capturing the aspirations of the people."
But he had to be helicoptered in to deliver the speech because demonstrators clogged the streets outside the parliament building. It was not clear how the 1,000 members of the assembly would get out of heavily guarded parliament building after they convened their session.
Nor was it immediately clear just what the assembly had done in its efforts to lay the foundation for a democratic government. House Speaker Harmoko, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, recited the titles and numbers of the approved resolutions in a rapid-fire delivery in the televised conclusion of the special session. He did not explain their content.
The 12 approved resolutions apparently were similar to the proposals drafted before the session began. Among them were a measure calling for elections in May, and one limiting the president to two terms. Another called an investigation into the hidden wealth of Suharto and his cronies, though it was not clear how vigorous the probe would be. Still another measure ordered a gradual reduction in the government role of the military, which now has 75 appointed seats in the assembly. But it did not specify how great the reduction would be and when it would occur.
The government, in an attempt to demonstrate its commitment to reform, made a remarkable disclosure about an investigation launched several months ago into the wealth of Suharto, who is widely suspected of having amassed a huge fortune during his 32 years as president.
Attorney General Muhamad Andi Ghalib announced that Suharto has private accounts in 72 national banks. "I'm not playing around," he said. "I'm committed. I'll invite Suharto today to ask him where the money is." Whether the student protesters accept such gestures as evidence of genuine reform remains to be seen. But given the brutal treatment they received Friday, it seems unlikely.