Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Authorities are being urged to reopen investigations into a 1989 incident in a Lampung village that claimed the lives of hundreds of people.
Investigations into the incident were stopped after residents of Talangsari village reached an undisclosed settlement with the former commander of the Lampung Garuda Hitam Military Command, Lt. Gen. Hendropriyono, whose men were allegedly involved in the incident.
The Talangsari attack must be properly investigated because of indications that human rights violations occurred in the incident, said participants in a discussion of a book titled Talangsari 1989, written by Fadilasari, a correspondent for Tempo daily. The discussion took place Monday at Lampung University in Bandarlampung.
Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, said based on preliminary investigations by the National Commission on Human Rights, it was concluded that human rights violations did occur during the Talangsari incident. The team plans a full investigation after obtaining approval from the attorney general and the House of Representatives.
"By resolving the Talangsari case we are not trying to discredit the military institution. We are aiming to prove to the international community that Indonesia is serious in handling human rights violations," Usman said.
Usman denied claims that investigations into the case are politically motivated.
"Even Ibu Zumrotin (Komnas HAM) said she is ready to unearth the graves of Talangsari victims. We don't want this case to incur the same fate as the July 27 tragedy (an attack on the Indonesian Democratic Party office, in Jakarta), the Trisakti incident and Semanggi shootings. The team will start working in May and is expected to complete the task in September," said Usman.
He said it was vital to bring the responsible parties and perpetrators of the Talangsari incident to justice.
According to Usman, efforts to suppress investigations into the attack have been going on through various means, such as the ambiguous settlement process and the intimidation of victims and those calling for an investigation into the case.
The Talangsari incident occurred on Feb. 7, 1989, in Cihideung hamlet, Talangsari village, Rajabasa Lama district, in Central Lampung regency (now part of East Lampung regency).
A battalion of army soldiers equipped with assault rifles from the Garuda Hitam Military Command in Lampung allegedly besieged Cihideung at dawn. Many civilians were killed, wounded and went missing during the attack. Soldiers burned down houses and detained villagers in the regency and at provincial military commands.
TNI soldiers allegedly attacked the village because a group of men, led by a man identified as Warsidi, was believed to be planning the formation of an Islamic state. The men were thought to be equipped with poison arrows, machetes and Molotov cocktails, and were combat-trained. The attack took place a day after Warsidi and his group abducted Capt. Sutiman and attacked the office of the Lampung Post daily with Molotov cocktails.
There are two versions of the military attack. The military version claims that security personnel were attacked first with poisoned darts and they fired back at members of the group, numbered in the hundreds.
The second version alleges that soldiers attacked the village without warning. One victim, Jayus, 60, alleged soldiers killed men, women and children in the village.
[On February 7, 1989, as many as 100 people were killed when troops surrounded a village in Lampung, South Sumatra, and opened fire and set fire to homes. The government claimed the villagers were members of a "deviant" Muslim sect and that troops were "defending themselves". Local people assert that the victims were unarmed farmers defending their land which was to be taken over by business person linked to the family of former President Suharto. - JB.]