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Human rights advocates condemn attorney general for neglecting Semanggi tragedies
At that time, students were protesting against the 1998 special trial of the People's Consultative Assembly and the Indonesian Military's dual functions.
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The parents of Benardus Realino Norma Irawan, who was shot dead in the Semanggi I tragedy, Maria Catarina Sumarsih (third left) and Arief Priyadi (second left), drop flowers in an event at the Atma Jaya Catholic University campus on Wednesday to mark the 21st anniversary of the shooting to death of 17 people in 1998. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
H
uman rights activists have condemned Attorney General ST Burhanuddin for saying that the Semanggi tragedies that claimed at least 29 lives were not gross human rights violations, which they see as another step back from the government’s commitment to solve past human rights abuses.
Human right activist Maria Catarina Sumarsih, who is also the mother of one of the victims, said Burhanuddin's statement was like “the latest version of an old song”, which has again revealed the government’s ignorance and lack of will in solving the cases.
"Attorneys general are trying to escape their responsibilities as the investigators of human rights violations as usual. It keeps happening so it seems like the country allows impunity," she told The Jakarta Post, referring to past holders of the same post who also made excuses for not bringing justice to the victims.
Sumarsih's son, Benardinus "Wawan" Realino Norma Irawan, then 20 years old and a student at Atma Jaya University, was among the people killed during the student protest that took place from Nov. 11 to 13, 1998, which later became known as the Semanggi I tragedy.
At that time, students were protesting against the 1998 special trial of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the Indonesian Military's (TNI) dual functions.
Another string of protests in Jakarta took place on Sept. 24, 1999, during which at least 12 more people were killed in a number of locations in the city. The violent day was later remembered as Semanggi II.
An investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) revealed that there had been rights abuses in the Semanggi I tragedy. The investigation, however, stalled at the Attorney General's Office (AGO). Even after 21 years since the tragedy, no perpetrators have been put on trial despite decades of pleading by victims’ families and activists.
