By Jill Hickson and Sam King
JAKARTA — A 2000-strong rally organised by the People's Democratic Party was viciously attacked by police and military on July 1. Protesters were beaten and shot. More than 100 were injured, two are in a critical condition.
Before the attack, the peaceful street rally had weaved its way through Jakarta, stopping at the University of Indonesia and the offices of the Indonesian Democratic Party, before marching to the electoral commission (KPU) office. As it went, many urban poor people joined the march.
At the KPU, the PRD speakers called for the disqualification of Golkar, Indonesia's ruling party, for rigging the general election through ballot tampering, bribing voters and intimidation. They also demanded the repeal of the dual function of the military — the institutional involvement of the military in all aspects of Indonesia's social and political life.
Outside the KPU, the demonstrators came face to face with 50 police armed with rifles, hand guns, bamboo sticks and tear gas. Many wore riot gear and brandished shields. The rally continued for more than an hour as Andy Arief, Faisal Reza and other PRD leaders delivered speeches.
PRD leader Hendri Kuok unsuccessfully negotiated with the police to allow the rally to enter the building to present their demands. Rally organisers put the KPU officials' offer to allow 50 people entry to the rally but the protesters refused to be divided and decided to enter the KPU to stage a sit-in. They argued that the KPU existed because of the Indonesian people's struggle for democracy, and therefore the activists should have the right to enter.
When the rally moved to enter the building, the police suddenly opened fire with plastic bullets at point-blank range; cops severely bashed anybody they could get near with sticks or kicked them with heavy boots.
The protesters ran away as soon as the shooting started, with a minority returning to fight back with stones and bottles for a short time. Police then forced the protesters down the street, firing indiscriminately at whoever remained. Hundreds of Brimob [mobile police] and military personnel loaded onto the street from eight trucks parked in the side streets to block protesters' escape. Protesters were routinely bashed after being captured. Fifty people are reported to have been taken to a police station in south Jakarta.
Dhyta Caturani, a leading PRD member, who was standing in the front line when the attack took place was immediately singled out and pulled behind the police line. She was shot in the back and brutally beaten while lying on the ground, sustaining severe injuries to the face and head from police boots.
Caturani was rushed to hospital and operated on. She remains in a weak condition but is expected to survive.
More than 100 protesters sustained injuries from police sticks, ricocheting bullets or beatings while they tried to escape. At least 36 protesters were admitted to four Jakarta hospitals.
Another PRD member, Carles Ratna Panji Setiawan, remains in a critical condition after being shot in the stomach. His spleen, damaged by the bullet, had to be removed.
At least seven people had plastic bullets enter their bodies, the majority shot in the back as they ran away. One of the injured had a bullet pass completely through his body and suffered heavy bleeding from the mouth. Another who was injured badly in the head is suffering amnesia. There have been no reports of fatalities, although two wounded PRD members were taken to a military hospital. Access to them has been denied and their condition is not known.
The whereabouts of 160 people remain unknown.