The Semanggi shootings in Jakarta, Indonesia, were two incidents when state troops opened fire on unarmed civilians and protesters during special sessions of parliament. The first incident, known as Semanggi I, took place on 13 November 1998 and 17 people were killed. The second incident, Semanggi II, took place on 24 September 1999 and 12 people were killed and more than 200 wounded.
Background
After long-serving President Suharto was forced to resign in May 1998 amid mass protests and deadly riots, student protesters continued to demand political reforms, particularly an end to the political role of the military and police.
Semanggi I
In November 1998, a Special Session of Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly was convened to decide on a timetable for future national elections. University students protested against the session as they mistrusted Suharto's successor, President BJ Habibie, and members of the MPR. They also demanded an end to the military's non-elected representation in parliament. On 13 November 1998, thousands of students held a sit-down protest near Atma Jaya University and the Semanggi cloverleaf interchange leading to the parliament building. Authorities responded by firing live ammunition. Seventeen people were killed and about 400 were wounded. The dead included six university students, two high school students and two Army officers. The dead were identified as: Teddy Wardhani Kusuma, Sigit Prasetyo, Heru Sudibyo, Engkus Kusnadi, Muzammil Joko, Uga Usmana, Abdullah/Donit, Agus Setiana, Budiono, Doni Effendi, Rinanto, Sidik, Kristian Nikijulong, Sidik, Hadi.
Semanggi II
On 24 September 1999, students in Jakarta and several other cities were protesting a proposed law that would give the Army wider powers in emergency situations. One student and 11 others were killed, while more than 200 people were wounded. Yap Yun Hap was shot dead outside Atma Jaya University. Other victims were killed in Lampung and Palembang. In Lampung, Muhammad Yusuf Rizal and Saidatul Fitriah were killed. In Palembang, on 5 October 1999, Meyer Ardiansyah was killed.
Investigations and prosecutions
The government and military's refusal to bring senior officers to trial for the Semanggi killings prompted civil society groups to call on the House of Representatives to set up an ad hoc tribunal. The DPR in 2000 set up a Special Committee to examine whether the May 1998 Trisakti shootings and the two Semanggi incidents constituted gross violations of human rights. The Pansus included members of the military/police faction in parliament. When the Pansus announced its findings in July 2001, the party factions were divided. Only three factions -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Love for the Nation Democratic Party and the National Awakening Party -- stated the killings contained the elements of gross human rights violations. PDI-P and PDKB recommended human rights trials, whereas PKB suggested an out-of-court reconciliation. The other DPR factions -- Golkar Party, the military/police, the United Development Party, the Crescent Star Party, the Reformasi Faction, the Indonesian Nationhood Unity Party and the Daulat Ummah Party -- declared the killings were not gross human rights violations. The DPR therefore decided the killings should be dealt with by military tribunals, rather than an ad hoc human rights court. In June 2001, military prosecutions commenced against 11 Brimob personnel over the Semanggi I incident. In January 2002, nine of them were sentenced to three to six years in prison. In June 2003, another military court sentenced an Army Strategic Reserve Command soldier, Buhari Sastro Tua Putty, for the shooting of Yun Hap at Semnanggi II. Although it was proven at the tribunal that the bullet that killed Yun Hap came from Buhari's gun, Djdja Suparman, who headed Kostrad when Semanggi II occurred, later wrote a book in which he suggested that an unknown party might have been using Buhari's gun. Military trials were also held for the shootings in Lampung and Palembang, with low-ranking police and military personnel being tried. Meanwhile, the National Commission on Human Rights established a Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations in Trisakti and Semanggi. The military and police argued that Komnas HAM's inquiry was illegitimate because the DPR had ruled that no gross violations of human rights occurred, and hence the officers ignored summonses for questioning, forcing Komnas HAM to subpoena witnesses under Article 95 of the Human Rights Law. The KPP-TTS found that gross violations of human rights had occurred. Komnas HAM sent its case files to the Attorney General's Office to initiate prosecutions, but the files were deemed incomplete and sent back. In 2007, some House factions tried to overturn the decision that the killings were not a gross violation of human rights, but the majority of parties rejected the proposal. In January 2020, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin reiterated the claim that the Semanggi shootings were not gross human rights violations. The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence questioned how the Attorney General's Office could make such a statement when it had never investigated the killings. “The party which has the right to declare whether or not it’s a gross human right violation is not the DPR because the DPR is a legislative body. We condemn the statement,” said Kontras coordinator Yati Andriyani on 16 January 2020. Under Law Number 26/200 on Human Rights Courts, the mechanism for declaring whether or not something is a gross human rights violation is: Komnas HAM investigates the incident, then the Attorney General's Office conducts a criminal investigation and prosecution, and a Human Rights Court tries the perpetrators. The DPR is not one of these parties.
