Dessy Sagita – A global human rights group criticized Jakarta police for its failure to investigate the attack on a human rights training session for a group of transvestites in Depok, West Java, last year.

In an open letter to Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Untung Suharsono Radjab, Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Deputy Director Donna Guest expressed her concern over the police's slow investigation into the case and failure to prosecute those who were involved in the attack.

Guest said in a statement that Amnesty International is concerned that the Indonesian authorities may not have taken adequate steps to prevent or stop the attacks in April 2010. Video footage taken during the attack clearly showed some police officers were present when the attack began but did not do anything to stop the Islamic hard-liners from forcefully dissolving the training session.

Amnesty International demanded the police conduct a thorough investigation and prosecute the perpetrators immediately as the incident was an affront to human rights principles.

Sr. Comr. Baharuddin Djafar, a spokesman for the Jakarta Police, said any group has the right to express its opinion of or concerns about police performance.

"It's an old case, so I have to look into it first to know how far the case has developed, but Jakarta police always does its best to solve any case," he said.

In May 2010, a group of transvestites attended a civil rights training session at the Bumi Wiyata Hotel in Depok. The event was sponsored by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Police were unable to stop a group of Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) hard-liners from bursting into the room where the training session was being held, panicking about 25 transsexuals present and forcing the civil-rights training session to shut down.

The FPI's Depok chapter head, Idrus Al-Ghodri, said the training should be halted because it recognized the transsexual community. Idrus said his organization also believed the organizers had not asked permission from local community leaders, the Depok city authorities and the police.