Nurfika Osman, Heru Andriyanto & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The families of victims of the May 1998 riots have lashed out on the anniversary, expressing anger that the full story has not been told – and that two of the key military figures from that era are now involved in presidential politics.
"The former chief of the Army's Special Forces [Kopassus], Prabowo Subianto, and military chief Wiranto have never been charged," said Ruyati Darwin, the mother of Eten Karyana, a University of Indonesia student who was killed in the Yogya department store fire in East Jakarta. "Now they are running in the presidential election. This country has failed to uphold the law."
Prabowo, although better known as head of Kopassus, was heading the Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) in May 1998.
The two retired generals have never been formally accused of involvement in the riots but critics have long called for them to be held accountable.
On May 12, 1998, four Trisakti University students were shot while rallying in front of their campus in West Jakarta. Two days later, hundreds died when the Yogya department store caught fire as mobs of angry rioters looted stores.
"We will never forget this tragedy as it is a gross violation of human rights," Ruyati said at the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) to mark the 1998 tragedy. "They can never bring back our children but they have to be fully responsible for what they have done."
Ruyati's son was among some 400 people caught in the burning department store. Eten, she said, had tried to save a girl who was choking on the thick smoke. He was identified by police who found his wallet and identify card.
Tuti Koto, the mother of Yani Afri, an activist believed to have been abducted by the military in May 1998, warned citizens to be careful in choosing their leaders in the election.
"Please do not vote for Prabowo and Wiranto. They are the killers of our sons," Tuti said, adding that her son's fate remained unknown. "We are still struggling now as we do not want this kind of violence to recur."
In a report on Monday to House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees law and politics, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji reiterated that his office could not bring the Trisakti killings to a rights tribunal because the case had been taken over by a military court and settled long ago.
Suspected officers in the shooting had been "tried by the military court and their convictions are final," Hendarman said, adding that they had been dismissed from the military and have served jail terms.
The Attorney General's Office has several times rejected documents from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) demanding a tribunal, most recently on March 28, 2008.
As for the alleged abductions of 13 activists by the military in 1997-98, Hendarman insisted that a rights tribunal must be established by presidential decree via a legislative recommendation, not by the AGO.
Hendarman's report to the commission said the military court had dismissed and imprisoned a number of officers from the so-called Tim Mawar (Rose Team) inside Kopassus for kidnapping 10 other activists more than a decade ago.