Lidia Pratama Febrian, Faieq Hidayat, Jakarta – The 876th Kamisan (Thursday) Action was held in front of the Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta on Thursday September 4. The action took up the theme "Remembering 21 Years of the Murder of Munir: Indonesia Emergency, Violence and Injustice".
According to Kompas.com monitoring at the location, the demonstrators had been thronging into the National Monument (Monas) gate area on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat since 3 pm. A number of participants were also seen carrying banners and placards with their demands.
A banner reading "Indonesian Reset" and "Indonesia Emergency Violence" was stretched out on orange road dividers that closed off the location of the action.
Meanwhile flyers were distributed containing calls such as "The 17+8 Demands of the People" and "Justice for Munir". Despite the scorching hot weather, the demonstrators continued arriving until 4.20 pm.
Some of them brought black umbrellas reading "Kamisan", both to protect them from the sun as well as a symbol of the silent protests that have been carried out routinely since 2007.
The Kamisan action this time round was also filled with speeches from family representatives of victims of human rights violations, activists and students. One of the speakers at the action said that Munir's death was a huge injury that has still not healed.
"It's been 21 years since Munir was assassinated, but the state has still failed to provide justice. We not only remember, we demand accountability!", they exclaimed.
In addition to speeches, a number of participants also read poetry that aroused awareness about human rights violations in Indonesia.
The action was peaceful and orderly and watched over by number of police officers. The area around the Monas gate was closely guarded but there was no attempt to forcibly disperse them or friction between the participants and the authorities.
The 876th Kamisan Action was a sign that the struggle to demand justice for victims of human rights violations is continuing, especially ahead of 21 years since the death of renowned human rights defender Munir Said Thalib on September 7, 2004.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aksi Kamisan di Depan Istana, Mengenang 21 Tahun Pembunuhan Munir".]
