By Max Lane
On April 4 the Suharto regime's recently established Human Rights Commission surprised everybody by issuing a two-page statement criticising irregularities in the handling of the case of the murder of worker activist Marsinah.
The commission stated that the suspects were not given access to legal counsel and that there was evidence they were tortured to obtain confessions. It also suggested that "other people" — interpreted as the military — were involved in the murder.
This extremely unusual criticism from a government body may be related to conflict within the regime between pro-Suharto and pro-military cliques. But it is also connected to the widespread public concerns and protests following the murder of Marsinah. At the moment in East Java, where Marsinah was killed, there are almost daily strikes or demonstrations calling for action on the case.
On May 8, Marsinah, 25, a leader of workers at a watch factory in the large industrial city of Surabaya, was found dead in an abandoned hut near a rice field. An autopsy found she had died of injuries inflicted during torture. She was also raped.
Marsinah had been the key leader in a series of strikes in her factory that had begun on May 3. The workers were demanding rises to meet the new official minimum wage. On May 5, after the firm had made some concessions, 13 of the most active workers were summoned by the district military command and interrogated.
As has become a common pattern, the local military commander then took it upon himself to dismiss the workers, apparently without consulting the factory owners.
According to an investigation by the respected Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, that evening Marsinah and other workers went to the district command to protest against the sackings. That was the last time any of her friends saw her alive.
Public outrage
Demonstrations, solidarity strikes and statements by public figures in the democratic movement quickly turned the case into a national scandal.
The Solidarity Committee for Marsinah was formed, involving many community development and human rights organisations. Radical student and worker groups organised leaflet campaigns. Portraits of Marsinah started to appear in national newspapers and magazines. Even the puppet trade union Serikat Pekerja Seluruh Indonesia (SPSI) called her a national hero.
Finally, on October 1, nine people were charged with the murder — all managers or security employees at the watch factory. It has become very apparent in the first trial, that of Mutiari, that the charging of the nine is part of a cover-up.
All the questioning of suspects was carried out by the military, not the police. During the trial, the defence was allowed to call only four witnesses. None of the expert witnesses nominated by the defence were allowed to testify. As more and more irregularities were revealed, the once very detailed press coverage stopped.
At the same time, in January, a mysterious pamphlet appeared entitled Marsinah. It was sold nationally as well as at kiosks outside the courtroom. Published by an unknown "Surabaya Metropolitan Press" and designed to look like an underground publication, it presented the full police version of events.
Suspects tortured
The publicity revived again when some of the defendants, witnesses in Mutiari's trial, began withdrawing statements given to the prosecutor's office and claiming that they had been tortured.
Factory owner Yudi Susanto claimed to have had electric shocks administered to his fingers and his penis. He said he had been beaten and had been forced to clean the floor with his tongue and to pluck grass with his teeth in the midday sun.
Mutiari said she had seen Susanto forced to roll around on the hot asphalt wearing only his underpants and had heard screams from his cell at night.
Another witness, Astono, claimed he was forced to suck an oily rag until he vomited and was then made to scoop up the vomit and wash his face with it. He was also forced to open his mouth while an officer spat into it.
Despite these and similar statements made under oath in the court, the judges ruled that they would accept only the signed statements given to the prosecutor's office.
These revelations caused a major sensation. The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation conducted its own investigation and confirmed these and other major irregularities. The foundation called on the authorities to investigate the link between the murder, the May 3 strike and the district military command.
As the scandal grew, the regime's newly formed Human Rights Commission, headed by former political trials supremo and prosecutor-general Major-General Ali Said, said it too would investigate. This led to the April 4 statement.
Government officials have reacted angrily. The chief spokesperson for the armed forces, Brigadier General Syarwan Hamid, told a press conference that the commission should have not made its findings public. The state secretary, President Suharto's official assistant, told the commission that it was not its role to perform the functions of the police and judiciary and that it should act very "carefully".