Budi Hartadi, Surabaya – Around 300 activists from a number of groups in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya held an action in front of the Grahadi Building and at the grounds of the provincial parliament on Friday December 10 to commemorate International Human Rights Day.

Arriving in waves between 11am and 2pm, during the action they criticised the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for not being serious about investigating human rights cases. This has been proven by the fact that up until now it has yet to fully investigate the perpetrators of human rights violations which have occurred in Aceh, Maluku, Tanjung Priok and Bojong Bogor.

The also expressed regret over the president’s position of not wanting to fully investigate the death of human rights activist Munir. They brought a number of posters and banners to the action which were filled with condemnations of a government which does not want investigate human rights violators.

Demonstrators brought an effigy of a corpse wrapped in a shroud as a symbol of the death of democracy in Indonesia. They also placed wreaths of flowers and carried posters of Munir while reading prayers and poetry.(jon)

[Translated by James Balowski.]