Jakarta – Media watchdogs say that the press must be at the forefront of preserving the public's collective memory of human rights abuses and pushing the Indonesian government to resolve these cases.

Maria Hartiningsih, a senior journalist from Kompas daily, said that the press was quite powerful in that it could help human rights activists accomplish that goal.

She cited the weekly silent protest called Kamisan – an Indonesian language reference for Thursday – in which a group of people, dressed in black with black umbrellas, stand in front of the State Palace every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. to demand that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono resolve past abuses.

Victims of human rights violations, activists and supporters alike have held these protests since Jan. 8, 2007. This Thursday is their 303rd week of struggling to "fight against political amnesia and have justice served".

However, Maria Catarina Sumarsih, the mother of BR Norma Irawan, a university student who was killed in the Semanggi tragedy, lamented that fewer reporters were now coming to cover the vigil compared to in 2007.

"Nowadays, only photographers come to cover our silent protest. I guess the journalists have reduced their coverage because of the government's sluggishness in responding to our demands. So far there has been no concrete milestone that they can write about," Sumarsih said.

Maria compared the Kamisan effort with that of the Mothers of Plasa de Mayo in Argentina, who were finally able to topple a military junta due to intensive press coverage that caught the world's attention.

"These women struggled for 36 years before the government bowed to their demands. Change was accomplished thanks to journalistic reports that fascinated the world with the story about women who were transformed from housewives to human rights activists due to violence," Maria said.

"Kamisan protests can actually accomplish a similar change if they are supported by the media. Reporters have to go back to the essence of journalism, which is to advocate for those who are marginalized," Maria added.

However, Dandhy D. Leksono from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) said the media did not live up to activists' expectations.

"In the past, journalism was equal to activism. But today, the mass media has become an industry. It does not give sufficient space to stories concerning human rights issues because these are not profitable," Dandhy said.

"The media caters to the public's thirst for political infotainment. And journalists do not seem to have enough skill to connect political stories to human rights issues," Dandhy added.

Dandhy also said the demand for newspaper journalists to produce stories with new angles and perspectives every day had caused them to abandon human rights issues such as Kamisan.

"After six years of action, there has been no progress. These people are standing in front of the State Palace and nothing ever happens. The pressure on journalists to always come up with something novel and unusual has caused them to stop covering the Kamisan protest," Dandhy said. (ogi)