October 16, 1998

The Straits Times

Lee Kim Chew

BAD habits are notoriously hard to break when these become second nature, but President Jusuf Habibie has to do precisely this if he is to stop Indonesia's precipitous slide into lawlessness and perdition.

For too long, perpetrators of political violence have got away scot-free with murder and the victims denied justice.

Now there is the brutal killing last week of Martadinata Haryono, a teenage counsellor who was helping ethnic Chinese rape victims of the riots in May.

The suspicious circumstances of her death, conflicting police statements and speculation that she herself was a rape victim have raised troubling questions about the truth of this murder.

Many suspect there is a police cover-up in this case. Such lingering doubts make it all the more necessary for the authorities to carry out an open and thorough investigation.

The rapes in May have caused an international outcry, and the credibility of the Habibie administration is at stake.

Human rights volunteers counselling the rape victims to prepare their cases say they have been threatened.

The question is whether Martadinata was indeed killed to terrorise the other rape victims from speaking out about their ordeal.

Prompt police denials that her murder was politically motivated, and that it was purely a criminal act, have been met with scepticism.

As the Jakarta Post noted, the "extraordinarily quick" pronouncement that the murder was nothing more than a bungled robbery attempt had not calmed the public.

"Indeed it caused great confusion -- understandable given the notoriously low esteem in which the law enforcement agencies here are held," it said. This is surely a case for Sherlock Holmes to crack.

Human rights activists claim that 130 ethnic Chinese women were raped or sexually abused during the May riots, and that 20 of the victims had died or committed suicide.

Next week, a government-backed team set up to look into the violence will make its findings public.

But ever since the stories of mass rapes surfaced, the Habibie government, notably the military and police, have dismissed them, maintaining that there is no evidence that these happened. Thus far, none of the rape victims has gone public with her story, and no one has been charged with the crimes.

But those who have been counselling the raped women have complained of intimidation, harassment and threats.

Using terror to frighten the victims of oppression and injustice into silence is a tried-and-tested technique.

Martadinata's death makes it obvious that the rape victims and those helping them need protection.

In the past, student activists, trade unionists and political dissidents have routinely disappeared, some without a trace.

The point is that looting, arson, and yes, the fact-finding team confirms, rapes had taken place, and that these were directed mainly at the minority ethnic Chinese community.

Now, the latest wave of killings in east Java is targeted at black magic practitioners and Muslim clerics. About 150 of them are reported to have been slain by men wearing black ninja masks in what looks like a terror campaign.

Clearly, there is a law-and-order problem which Dr Habibie has to fix.

He has issued a decree to prevent racial discrimination against non-indigenous Indonesians, particularly the ethnic Chinese.

But no amount of legislation is going to do any good unless people are convinced that the government really means what it says.

Dr Habibie has to get things under control quickly.

To be sure, some of the rape stories may have been exaggerated for effect, and there is also a lot of disinformation to damage the case of genuine rape victims.

But exaggeration and disinformation should not prevent crimes from being investigated, because there is much to unravel.

The onus is on the government to get the truth out for all to see. It is the only way to establish faith in the authorities.

To put the country firmly on the road to reforms, Dr Habibie has to make Indonesia safe not just for foreign investors, but for its own citizens as well. This, he must not forget, includes the ethnic Chinese Indonesians.