Indonesia: Assistance needed to report May incidents
Lars Ekman/Lise Stensrud (stenekm@online.no)
Tue, 4 Aug 1998 22:36:58 +0200 (MET DST)
>Return-Path: <L.Ohlsson@padrigu.gu.se>
>Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 09:38:08 +0200
>To:
>From: Leif Ohlsson <L.Ohlsson@padrigu.gu.se>
>Subject: Indonesia: Assistance needed to report May incidents
>
>Ibland träffar man på angelägna upprop som man önskar att personer man
>känner säkert får tillgång till. Den här gången är det Bertil Egerö, Lund
><bertil.egero@soc.lu.se> som vidarebefordrar ett upprop från Indonesien,
>som i sin tur kommit via Gita Sen, professor med reproduktiv hälsa och
>rättigheter som specialitet, starkt genderorienterad:
>-----
>Dear friends, Please forward this "Yellow Ribbon" to all friends around the
>world to show our soladirity and sympathy for the victims of the riots and
>chaos in Indonesia last May 13-15. Many Chinese Indonesian citizens were
>abused, tortured and killed. Their houses and stores were looted and burnt.
>Hundreds of Chinese Indonesian girls/women (aged 10-55) were sexually
>harassed and gang raped brutally. Some victims were even raped in front of
>their family members or in front of inhuman cheering crowd.
>
>Some of them were even thrown into the fire and burnt to death after being
>raped. Yet, not many actions seem to have been taken to investigate all
>this or to help the victims. And not very many people seem to know or care
>about what happened. Please help to spread the news and let the world know.
>We need help to get more international attention to help Chinese
>Indoonesians, who are now living in fear in Indonesia. Please pass this
>ribbon around as the symbol of campaign against human rights violations,
>injustice, and racism towards Chinese Indonesians. Show that we care and
>may God help us!
>
>This is heart-breaking.......
>
>Name: Vivian (not real Name) Age: 18 Sex: Female
>
>Vivian has a little sister and a brother. She lives in an apartment with
>her family. At 9.15 am, a huge crowd had gathered around the apartment.
>They screamed, "Let's butcher the Chinese!", "Let's eat pigs!", "Let's have
>a party!" We lived on the 7th floor, and we got a call from a family who
>lived in the 3rd floor that the crowd had reached the second floor. They
>even chased some occupants upstairs. We were all very frightened. In our
>fright, we prayed and left everything in God's hands.
>
>Afterward, we left our room and went upstairs to the topmost floor, as it
>was impossible to go downstairs. We got to the 15th floor, and stayed there
>with one of our acquiantances. Not long afterward, we were surprised
>because there were some of the crowd coming out of the elevator right
>before we entered the room. We hurried into the room and locked the door
>tight. At that time, we heard them knocked the other rooms' doors loudly,
>and there were screams from women and girls. The room was filled with fear.
>
>We realized that they would come to us. So we spread throughout the room
>and hid in corners. Inside, we could heard girls, whose age around 10-12,
>screaming, "Mommy... Mommy..." "Mom... Mom... it hurts.." That time I
>didn't know what was happening. After about half an hour, the noise
>diminished, and we had some guts to go out and check.
>
>It was indescribable. A lot, some of them girls, young girls, lied on the
>floor. "O my God, what has happened?" Seeing all of this, my little sister,
>Veny, screamed histerically and hugged his father. Tears started coming
>down from my eyes.
>
>With our acquaintances, a newly-wed couple, we started going downstairs.
>Reaching the 10th floor, we heard a scream for help. The scream was very
>clear, and we decided to go down and see. But as we turned, we saw a lot of
>people. I saw a woman in her 20s being raped by four men. She tried to
>fight, but she was held tight. Realizing the danger, we ran with all our
>might. But unfortunately, the mob caught Veny. We tried to rescue her, but
>we had to give up.
>
>There were around 60 of them. They tied us--I, my father, my mother, Veny,
>Dony, Uncle Dodi, Aunt Vera--with ripped sheet. They led us to a room.
>Uncle Dodi asked what they wanted, but they didn't answer. They cast an
>evil and savage look. One of them grabbed Veny rudely and dragged her to a
>sofa. At that time, I knew that she was in danger. I screamed loudly, and
>one of the mob slapped me. My father who also screamed was hit by a wooden
>block, and he fainted. My mother had fainted when Veny was dragged to the
>sofa. I could only pray and pray that the disaster would not befall us...
>
>Uncle Dodi kept trying to persuade them by offering money, but the effort
>was fruitless. And in the end they forcedly raped Veny. Not able to stand
>all of this anymore, I cried and closed my eyes. There were about 5 people
>who raped Veny, and before beginning, everyone always said, "Allahu akbar"
>(and Islamic phrase in Arabic, meaning "God is the greatest"). They were
>ferocious, brutal.
>Not long afterward, around 9 men came to the room and dragged me. I also
>had a chance to see them forcing and dragging Aunt Veny. But, I instantly
>fainted and everything was blank.
>
>I became conscious at around 5 or 6 in the afternoon. My head was in pain,
>and then I realized that I had no clothes on my body. I cried. I was very
>depressed. I realized that my family were still there, and obscurely I saw
>my father hugged my mother and Doni. I also saw that Uncle Dodi was lying
>on the floor, and Uncle Vera was crying over his body. I felt so weak, and
>fainted again.
>
>The next day, I was in the Pluit Hospital. My mother and father were beside
>me. With all the pains on my body, I asked, "Mom, why Vinny, Mom?" I felt a
>stinging pain as I said those words. I felt my cheek swollen. My mother
>instantly cried and couldn't speak any words, while my mother, holding his
>tears, managed to smile.
>
>After 4 days in treatment, my condition started getting better. With a sad
>look, my father then told me what happened. After I fainted, 7 people raped
>me. At that time my father still couldn't see well after being hit with the
>block. They raped me by rolling my body and hit it against the wall. Then,
>my father said to me, "Vin, Venny has gone..." I was confused and instantly
>cried loudly. "Why, Dad???" My father didn't answer. He told me to rest and
>went out of the room. I cried over and over again, feeling that my life is
>worthless anymore.
>
>A week ago, after I had been able to gone home, I was told everything that
>happened. When she was raped, Veny kept fighting, and so she was slapped
>repeatedly by her rapists. The last time she fought, Veny spitted on one of
>them. Offended, the man grabbed a knive and stabbed it to Veny's stomach.
>Brutally, he did it repeatedly until Veny drew her last breath with blood
>all over her. After I heard the story, I was shocked. My father then said
>that Uncle Dodi had the same fate, watched by Aunt Vera who is also a
>victim of the rape. God... why should all of this happen?
>
>Now Aunt Vera stays in her parents' house, accompanied by her sister.
>According to what the sister said, she is still shocked. Her face is blank,
>and often she refuses to eat. Almost every hour, my mother and I cry over
>this tragedy. I couldn't ever forget it. No matter what, they (the mob) are
>uncivilized people who have no sense of humanity.
>-----
>Styr gärna om det här till någon du tror skulle vara intresserad av sådana
>här utskick. Om det är första gången du får ett, och om du skulle vilja bli
>uppsatt på min lista för fortsatta utskick, skicka mig då ett e-mail
><l.ohlsson@padrigu.gu.se>. Så trevligt om vi kunde byta "godbitar"!
>_______________________________________________________________
>Leif Ohlsson, Padrigu, Box 700, SE-405 30 Goteborg, Sweden
>(Dept. of Peace & Development Research, University of Goteborg)
>Tel: +46-31-773 1408; 031-16 73 44 (home); 010-210 8654 (mob)
>Fax: +46-31-773 4910; E-mail: L.Ohlsson@padrigu.gu.se
>
>
>