Arientha Primanita – The Jakarta government on Friday played down recommendations made by the National Commission on Human Rights on the deadly April 14 riot in Tanjung Priok, saying they "lacked evidence" and officials would instead focus their efforts on helping the victims.
"In my opinion, Komnas HAM [the commission] did not look at the bigger picture," Jakarta Deputy Governor Prijanto said on Friday. "The recommendations they made lacked evidence. It's unfortunate that the commission did not even bother to interview the child victims."
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, who Komnas HAM alleged had committed human rights violations together with Prijanto and North Jakarta officials during the riot that left three people dead and at least 200 injured, declined to comment on the issue.
"The deputy governor and I will do whatever we have to do to resolve the Priok case based on the law," Fauzi said.
He was speaking after the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) announced the results of its own investigation into the incident.
Komnas HAM and the Red Cross ran parallel probes into the violence that stemmed from an attempt by public order officials to tear down buildings on a disputed plot of land that is also the site of the tomb of a revered 18th- century Muslim missionary.
Following its investigation, which took a month to complete, Komnas HAM on Wednesday said Fauzi, Prijanto and North Jakarta Mayor Bambang Sugiyono needed to be held accountable for the violence.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross urged the police to undertake a thorough investigation of the violence and hold those responsible accountable before the law.
"Many people were hurt in this incident. It is therefore the police's responsibility to find out who started all this," Red Cross chairman Jusuf Kalla said.
Kalla, a former vice president, said the land dispute needed to be settled and those who claimed to own the land must take their case to a religious court.
The tomb of Mbah Priok, a 20-square-meter building with an adjoining 300-square-meter pavilion, is located on land disputed between state-owned port operator PT Pelindo II and the heirs of the 18th-century Muslim missionary.
The National Land Agency (BPN) earlier said the disputed land had been granted to the heirs of Mbah Priok by the Dutch colonial government in 1934. In 1979, the Indonesian government ordered all owners of Dutch-granted land to register their property with the BPN or cede it to the state, but Mbah Priok's heirs did not do so. The land thus became state property, and in 1987 was granted to Pelindo II.