Maria Katarina Sumarsih, 64, said that today she would do exactly what she had done every Thursday since she was 54 years old: dress in black with a matching-color umbrella in hand and stand for hours in front of the State Palace.

Sumarsih joins other activists and victims of human rights abuses, many of whom are regular participants of the Kamisan (Thursdays), a silent protest held every Thursday to demand the government give attention to the numerous unresolved human rights abuses across Indonesia.

With a weary smile, Sumarsih recalled the time she took part in the very first Kamisan on Jan. 18, 2007, during the administration of then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

She said her hair was already grey at that time.

Since then, 476 Thursdays have passed and Sumarsih has never missed a single Kamisan. For her, those fighting for justice must not let themselves become tired.

“The struggle for humanity takes a long time, so does the struggle for the supremacy of rule of law that the 1998 activists, including my son Wawan, fought for,” Sumarsih, whose hair has now turned white, said on Wednesday.

Wawan is the nickname of Bernardus Realino Norma Irmawan, a student of Atma Jaya University who died during the Semanggi tragedy in Jakarta in 1998. At that time, students played a crucial role in the push for democracy to emerge from Soeharto’s dictatorial New Order regime.

But 17 years after the fall of Soeharto, the government remains largely unresponsive to human rights violations.

Nonetheless, the way the activists grouped under the Victims Solidarity Network for Justice (JSKK) articulate their cause through Kamisan has won recognition and praise.

Today marks the 10th year and the 477th Kamisan. The Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) is set to award JSKK members who have stood tirelessly for a decade for breaking the record of the longest ever demonstration.

“Kamisan is our way to survive, to push for the truth, to seek justice, to never forget and to fight against impunity,” she said.

“Our struggle will last until the government responds to our demands,” Sumarsih said.

When President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo made a promise during his 2014 election campaign to prioritize investigation into and reconciliation of past human rights abuses, the activists saw a glimmer of hope.

However, they were dismayed when Jokowi showed inconsistency in the handling of at least seven cases of human rights abuses that his administration had promised to solve, including the 1965 purge and 1998 riots.

Both Yudhoyono and Jokowi have never showed up to greet them at any of the Kamisan events.

“For how long do we have to keep protesting in front of the palace?” Suciwati, the widow of murdered human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, asked.

Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Haris Azhar criticized the lack of courage in Jokowi’s administration to probe the alleged involvement of high-ranking officials and politicians in the cases.

“Ten years is not a short time; it has been a long process, which ironically has been neglected by the state without clear answers,” Al-Araf, the director of human rights watchdog Imparsial, told The Jakarta Post.

“The government should realize that the cases are historic debts that should be paid. It’s the state’s responsibility to make breakthroughs and find concrete solutions,” he added.

Jokowi, through his spokesman Johan Budi, reaffirmed on Wednesday his commitment to resolve numerous past abuse cases, particularly the death of Munir and the Trisakti shootings.

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