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Island focus: Commission visits 1998 tragedy mass grave
The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) visited the mass grave of victims of the May 1998 riots at the Purwoloyo public cemetery in Surakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday
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he National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) visited the mass grave of victims of the May 1998 riots at the Purwoloyo public cemetery in Surakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday. The mass grave contains 23 bodies of victims buried in a single grave for unidentified people.
Komnas Perempuan commissioner Mariana Amiruddin arrived with a number of non-governmental activists at 2 p.m. According to Mariana, the visit is related to efforts to reveal the truth of the May 1998 tragedy.
“Uncovering the truth of the 1965 tragedy and the 1998 tragedy have become the priority of the President.
“We’re here to memorialize victims of violence. There are 23 bodies in this grave, and we don’t know who they are. There should be a collective understanding that in this country a tragic event like May 1998 must never happen again,” said Mariana.
Mariana added that Komnas Perempuan would urge the government to build a memorial at the cemetery to signify that 23 bodies were buried in the mass grave as a result of the 1998 tragedy.
