Families of 1998 Victims Refuse to Give up

More than 20 years have passed, and the families of victims of the human rights abuses in May 1998 are still waiting for their cases to be resolved. The government is now working on a non-judicial Settlement.

KOMPAS/EDDY HASBY

Students from Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi storm the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta in May 1998, demanding reform and the resignation of President Soeharto. Some students took action by sitting on the roof of the legislative building that houses the People’s Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – It has been more than two decades since serious human rights violations occurred in May 1998. The government has changed several times, but the handling of the human rights violations has yet to materialize. However, the families of victims of the human rights violations have refused to give up. They continue to appeal to the hearts of the authorities so that the burden of the nation\'s history can be resolved and so that impunity is not perpetuated for the perpetrators.

The hope of resolving the gross human rights violations comes not only from the families of the victims but also from the Indonesian people. A survey conducted by Kompas Research and Development from April 27 to 30 involving 505 respondents from 34 provinces found that 80 percent of respondents thought the human rights violations of May 1998 had not been resolved or only partially resolved. As many as 59.7 percent of the respondents wanted the cases to be settled through the judiciary.