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Radio Nederland Wereldomroep: CHINESE WOMEN RAPED DURING RIOTS IN JAKARTA
* CHINESE WOMEN RAPED DURING RIOTS IN JAKARTA
Netherlands conducted with Ita Nadia, one of the workers at the
women sector within the Voluntary Team which deals with the aftermath
of the recent riots in Jakarta. Ita Nadia is also the Director
of Kalyana Mitra, an all-women NGO. The interview was conducted
in the Indonesian language on June 8, 1998. It was broadcast in
Gema Warta and Fokus Awal Pekan the following day, June 9th.
RN: How many victims have contacted your group so far?
IN: It is extremely difficult to quantify the number of victims
who reported their cases, first of all because they are deeply
traumatized and also because, as women, they face other obstacles,
such as being Chinese and non-Muslim (in a largely Muslim environment).
If we wait until they come to us then it's not going to work.
So we use a pro- active approach. We try to find them. We open
a telephone hotline. We also try and recruit volunteers. At the
moment we provide the victims with medical and psychological help,
in order to make them strong enough so that they can present their
case in court.
According to our records (as of June 8) there are between 25
and 50 cases to be dealt with. We assist the victims intensively.
The women of ethnic Chinese origin tend to be very reluctant to
talk, traumatized as they are. We have visited hospitals and noted
that many victims have suffered mental breakdowns. That means
there is nothing we can do for them at present.
The type of victim varies from women who were assaulted in the
street to those who were raped in their own homes. In some instances,
women were raped and then killed. In others, the rape victims
and their families committed suicide.
RN: Are there many victims who make use of your telephone hotline?
IN: Hotlines have been opened in two places. One is in the office
of Kalyana Mitra, the other at Mitra Perempuan; both are all-women
NGO's. We receive an average of 25 calls a day, mostly from informants.
About three to five victims a day call our hotlines. Usually they
don't want to identify themselves, most are hysterical and crying.
We tend to get their addresses from informants, relatives or neighbours,
not from the victims themselves. They range in age from ten to
fifty. We believe the abuse to be barbaric, systematic and organized,
since most of the perpetrators were not from the area, but came
from elsewhere, in groups.
RN: Are the victims exclusively from the ethnic Chinese community?
IN: The majority, about 98 percent, are ethnic Chinese. We know
of one or two cases involving women from other ethnic groups but
these have not yet been confirmed. All of the victims we have
dealt with were Chinese.
RN: How would you build a court case; wouldn't it be almost impossible
to identify individuals as the perpetrators?
IN: Well, it is difficult to pinpoint individual rapists, because
the incidents involved groups of between five and nine men. Our
target is the government, because we think this is the government's
responsibility. The acts were well-planned and carried out as
a military operation. The men would come to a certain place, loot
shops en then rape the women -something which is very common in
military situations.
Our targets are not the guilty individuals, since it is difficult
to produce evidence, but we want to raise the awareness and solidarity
of the public. Society itself will have to militate against this
kind of injustice.
RN: Do you have any idea who committed these acts?
IN: All we know is that they operated in groups of five or more.
They were not local people and the incidents were cases of multiple
rape, in which one woman was usually abused by up to five men.
The rapes took place in the street and in people's homes.
RN: Could you give a rundown of cases that have been documented?
IN: There were employees going home by public transport. On the
bus, the passengers were separated along ethnic lines. The Chinese
were told to get off, take off their clothes and walk. They were
herded towards the bushes lining the road. The good-looking ones
were raped, those who were less pretty were told to march on without
any clothes on.
In another incident, a group of Chinese women were stripped naked
and harrassed. We met some women who had bruises all over their
bodies, their nipples had been torn. There was a case where a
group of ten people entered a bank and sealed off the door. Inside,
the Chinese women employees were made to dance without any clothes
on.
Then there was the poor Chinese family whose three daughters,
aged 10 to 18, were raped by seven men. Yet another case involves
a Chinese family whose eldest daughter told me what happened to
her two younger sisters. They, too, were raped by seven men, on
the third floor of their house. Afterwards, their attackers chased
them down to the second floor, which was already in flames. Both
girls died. There've been other cases where women were not only
raped, but strangled as well. Also, there were cases where, after
being raped, the victims and their families ended up killing themselves.
These were cases where the women were not only raped, but also
sodomized and had their vaginas ripped apart. These assaults were
carried out
systematically, not by any single individual.
I would say that there is a political message in all this: if
you want reforms and democracy then this is the price you have
to pay. They want to create a state of terror, in order to intimidate
people, so they pick on ethnic Chinese, on women and non-Muslims
because they are the most vulnerable. We are extremely angry that
women are being targeted and subjected to sexual violence as a
means to intimidate people. This is state-sponsored violence.
RN: What would you say to victims who are still afraid to explain
what happened to them?
IN: I would say 'please don't be afraid, because breaking your
silence will help raise awareness'. They can call our hotlines
on 021-7902109 or 021-79021121. We guarantee complete confidentiality.
To the outside world I say: please give us your support. Support
means campaigning against this barbarism and condemning it. Ethnic
Chinese were already
the target of political discrimination by the government. Now
they are being victimized.
RN: Do you think these cases have received enough attention from
the government and the media?
IN: This is an act of discrimination that has built up for more
than 30 years. Rape is a criminal act, but the matter has gone
beyond mere crime. It is a social outrage. We want to show that
this is a crime beyond comprehension. As for the media, we insist
that this is also
their responsibility. Right now we are still concentrating on
the victims, standing by them and trying to restore their confidence.
This is a duty that involves not just looking after women but
also raising awareness. I am glad to say that we are getting very
positive reactions from all layers of society, both from indigenous
Indonesians and ethnic Chinese who support our work.
We have been threatened ourselves, they've even sent us grenades.
One grenade came with a message attached: 'there will be more
grenades to come'. But I say: we're doing this not to gain political
power, we're doing this for the victims, for those who have died.
Our motivation
comes from the heart. When I came to this I was deeply shocked
and couldn't believe what I heard and saw. Our group, Kalyana
Mitra, has been dealing with rape cases for ten years but we've
never encountered anything quite as barbaric as this. The victims
ask for protection
because they fear reprisals if the details of their cases are
revealed.
We are now helping the victims to take HIV tests. If they've become
pregnant they will need an abortion. They will also need psychological
care.
* PEMERKOSAAN PEREMPUAN ETNIS CINA DI JAKARTA.
Etnis Cina dan perempuan adalah target paling lemah dan mudah
dituju. Puluhan atau bahkan mungkin ratusan perempuan etnis Cina
menjadi korban pelecehan seksual dan perkosaan yang terjadi ketika
rumah-rumah atau toko-toko mereka dibakar dan dijarah pada tanggal
13 dan 14 Mei dulu di Jakarta. Begitu biadabnya para pelaku seolah
mereka sudah tidak memiliki rasa perikemanusian sedikitpun.
Para korban, tidak saja dilecehkan atau diperkosa, tapi ada pula
yang dicekik dan dibunuh. Sebagian korban mengalami gangguan jiwa
sangat serius. Mengingat para korban sangat trauma dan ketakutan
untuk mengungkapkan peristiwa yang menimpa mereka, maka para relawan
bersikap pro aktif, dengan mencari para korban, mengunjungi rumah
sakit dan
membuka hotline. Sejauh ini, tim sudah mengidentifikasi sekitar
50 kasus. Setiap harinya, sekitar dua puluh lima perempuan menilpun
hotline tersebut.
Berikut sejumlah kasus pelecehan seksual dan perkosaan yang telah
diidentifikasi oleh Divisi Perempuan, yaitu kelompok relawan dari
berbagai LSM yang peduli terhadap nasib korban, dituturkan oleh
koordinatornya Ita Nadia.
Ketika para pegawai pulang naik bis didalam bis, penumpang di
pilah-pilah. Para penumpang Cina disuruh turun, disuruh membuka
baju, dan kemudian disuruh jalan berbaris. Mereka digiring ke
padang ilalang dipinggir jalan dan di pilah-pilah lagi. Yang berparas
cantik diperkosa. Sedangkan yang berparas tidak begitu cantik
disuruh berjalan telanjang.
Modus berikutnya, perempuan-perempuan Cina secara ramai-ramai
ditelanjangi dijalan raya, kemudian tubuhnya digerayangi. Kami
menemukan putingnya ada yang sobek dan seluruh badan memar.
Ada lagi pegawai bank. Sebanyak sepuluh orang memasuki bank dan
menutup bank tersebut. Para pegawai Cina disuruh menari-nari dengan
telanjang.
Kemudian ada tiga anak gadis dari keluarga Cina miskin yang diperkosa.
Mereka berumur 10
sampai delapan belas tahun, diperkosa oleh tujuh orang disebuah
tempat di Jakarta Utara/Barat.
Yang berikutnya adalah sebuah keluarga yang kebetulan kakak perempuan
para korban mengaku kepada Ita Nadia bahwa dua adik perempuannya
diperkosa di lantai tiga rumah mereka oleh tujuh orang pula. Setelah
diperkosa, dua adik perempuan itu didorong ke lantai dua dan satu
dimana api telah berkobar, sehingga dua adik tersebut meninggal.
Itu beberapa kasus. Kasus-kasus lain, mereka biasanya diperkosa,
kemudian dicekik.
Tetapi ada juga yang ketika diperkosa, korban kemudian membunuh
diri. Para korban ini tidak hanya diperkosa di vagina tetapi juga
di dubur dan diikuti pula dengan pengrusakan vagina.
Itu dilakukan secara sistematis karena tidak dilakukan oleh orang
biasa. Secara politis, saya mau bilang bahwa ini adalah perbuatan
untuk menunjukkan "kalau kamu menuntut reformasi dan demokrasi,
ini adalah bagian yang harus kamu bayar. Dan bagian yang harus
kamu bayar adalah mengorbankan etnis Cina, dalam hal ini adalah
perempuan sebagai target untuk membangun sebuah teror atau ketakutan
di masyarakat untuk mengintimidasi masayarakat. Jadi dipilihlah
etnis Cina dan perempuan dan non muslim karena merekalah yang
paling lemah".
Tim relawan untuk kemanusian Divisi Perempuan sesungguhnya adalah
tim relawan untuk kemanusiaan yang lebih besar, yang dipimpin
Romo Sandyawan. Tim sudah melakukan identifikasi korban-korban
kerusuhan yang jumlahnya mencapai 1333. Sekarang, kami sungguh-sungguh
sangat marah karena perempuan dijadikan target atau obyek untuk
mengintimidasi masyarakat lewat kekerasan seksual. Ini adalah
state violence.
RADIO NEDERLAND : Pesan apa yang ingin anda sampaikan kepada korban
yang sampai saat ini belum atau tidak berani mengungkapkan apa
yang menimpa dirinya.
ITA NADIA : Tolong, jangan takut karena membuka kebisuan adalah
membangun kesadaran. Breaking the silence. Para korban bisa langsung
menelpon nomor hotline, yaitu 021-790 2109 atau 021-790 2112.
Kami akan menjaga kerahasiaan baik para korban maupun informan.
Sedangkan untuk masyarakat luar negri, berilah dukungan. Dukungan
dalam arti berkampanye untuk mengutuk perbuatan ini. Bagaimanapun
juga, mereka telah didiskriminasi, secara politik didiskriminasi
sebelumnya oleh pemerintah dan sekarang mereka dikorbankan
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