Lukmanul Hakim/Hendra, Jakarta – On 24 September 1999, five students were shot dead in the Semanggi district of the Indonesian capital Jakarta by the military while protesting the proposed implementation of special military powers. One of those who fell, Yun Hap, was commemorated today, 25 September, by tens of students from the University of Indonesia who demanded the killers be brought to justice.
The incident is known within Indonesia as Semanggi II. One year ago students clashed violently with military personnel attempting to block their road as they gathered in Semanggi.
After placing flowers on Yun Hap's grave, students also placed flowers at the site of the tragedy and then staged a rally at the Attorney General's office taking photos of Yun Hap with them.
Students participating in the rally were mainly from the Indonesian University Students Action Front and Students for Human Rights Forum. They dressed in their characteristic yellow almamater jackets.
"We don't believe in the military trial. We have to use another method by staging a civil trial or a Human Rights trial," said Waway, a coordinator of the rally disillusioned with the investigations and trial staged by the military after the incident. Protesters were inhibited from entering the grounds of the Attorney General's office. The main gate was heavily bolted.
The students gathered to also demand thorough investigations into Human Rights violation cases perpetrated by the military and demanded they be held accountable before Indonesian law, not just subject to military trials.
At 3.50pm, several students jumped the front fence of the Attorney General's office while others were staging an open forum of speeches outside main gate.
The protesters also rejected the amendment of article 28 (1) 45 of the Constitution which inhibits the trials of Human Rights violation cases – the so-called retrospective clause. Protestors demanded to meet with the Attorney General, Marzuki Darusman, but were turned away because he was apparently not in his office.