On the weekend of 27 July military-backed members of a faction of the PDI stormed the party headquarters in Jakarta, violently evicting hundreds of Megawati supporters and triggering riots that swept the city. In the following weeks many were arrested, not just rioters but political and human rights activists who had never advocated violence.
In this issue we examine what happened, and why. Sailendri talks with Megawati in an exclusive interview. Ed Aspinall traces the buildup and the aftermath to the riots. Vannessa Hearman takes a look inside one of the student organisations making up PRD, which the military blame for the violence. Long-time observer of the student movement Ariel Heryanto reflects on the reasons why students seem to be so important in Indonesian politics. As the moment of transition to a new president approaches, we ask with Michael van Langenberg: What hope for greater democracy? Our writers say it the way they see it. Are they being too optimistic? Or too pessimistic? You decide.
We may differ on the prospects for long term change in Indonesia, but the events of the past months disturb us all. We do not take pleasure in reports of many dead and injured, nor in the burning of buildings. We are alarmed at the cavalier abandonment of the rule of law. As if plunging Indonesia once more into the martial law regime of the mid-1960s, the top army commander in Jakarta ordered his troops to 'shoot on sight' any they saw as trouble makers.
Top officials created a crisis atmosphere by pressuring the media and by engineering large rallies to condemn the tiny PRD as if it was the communist demon born again. Dozens from all over Java and Sumatra were detained by military men, without a warrant. Among them Budiman Sudjatmiko, leader of the PRD, and the independent labour union leader Muchtar Pakpahan.
They were kept for weeks without anyone knowing where they were, let alone accompanied by a lawyer. Some were threatened with the 1963 Subversion Law, only months after the National Commission on Human Rights called for its abolishment. At the same time, a crackdown was announced on non-government organisations generally. This, as one of our book reviews makes clear, is the real meaning of the 'dual function' of the Indonesian Armed Forces.
While most eyes were on the street scenes in Jakarta, living and hoping elsewhere went on. Two investigative reports examine unexpected new freedoms - the freedom of an unlicensed press flourishing all over Java (Stanley), and the freedom of access to satellite television and the Internet (Mark Crawford). Coki Naipospos reaches out from the metropolis to peacemakers in faraway East Timor. Emma Baulch moshes with punks in Bali. And more.
Enjoy this issue. Our thanks go to the many people who made
it happen.
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