Global Courant
The commission submitted its report to the attorney general in 2018, but the latter did not follow up on the finding, citing factors such as “lack of evidence and witnesses”.
Abdul said many of the victims were on the list of people considered to be sorcerers issued by the local government and verified by the security forces – a clear sign of the military’s involvement.
The attackers were outsiders because they did not speak in the local dialect, drove cars and communicated with walkie-talkies, he said.
“It showed that these were premeditated and staged murders,” he noted.
Law passed on sorcery, problem persists
The murders sparked public debate about how to regulate sorcery to prevent people from taking the law into their own hands.
The government first proposed punishing wizards in the 1990s – before the murders in East Java – but did not follow through with the idea.
In 2005, seven years after the murders, Indonesia’s Ulema council issued a religious edict banning witchcraft.
In 2009, the municipal government in the city of Probolinggo, East Java, came up with the idea of making the oath of innocence an alternative legal solution to settle legal disputes related to sorcery.
It was not until late 2016 – 18 years after the Banyuwangi massacre – that articles regulating sorcery made their way into the revised draft of Indonesia’s Penal Code.
After years of deliberation, parliament finally passed the law on the Criminal Code at the end of 2022. It stipulates that whoever admits to having supernatural power, then informs, promises and offers services to harm someone, risks being sent to prison for 1½ years or a fine of up to 200 million rupiah (S$17,800).
The effectiveness of the law to curb sorcery remains to be seen, as it will not take effect until 2026.
Meanwhile, a team was set up earlier this year on the orders of President Joko Widodo to rehabilitate the victims of 12 gross human rights violations between 1965 and 2003, including the Banyuwangi murders.
Mr Beka, a team member, said it aims to help the victims and their families, including psychological counseling, medical services and financial assistance.
“We work with victims who are deeply traumatized, so we have to be careful not to make them feel victimized again.”
