Lets Speak The Truth

Let's Speak the Truth 

Refusing to Forget, Caring for Memories 

More than a quarter of a century after the May 1998 Tragedy, the rights to truth, justice, and reparation remain elusive for victims. Silence seems to be the state’s choice when the law is unable to uphold human rights, especially for women who experience violence. The Attorney General’s Office has never followed up on the results of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)’s investigation. For victims, this is evidence that the state is not ready to be serious about resolving gross human rights violations and has failed to create a proper space for reparation. 

In 2009, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) commenced the “Let’s Speak the Truth” campaign as a collective call to open ourselves up to the nation’s dark history. 

Opening ourselves up means having the courage to listen to the victims’ stories, understand their wounds, and refuse to blame them for the lingering impacts. 

This movement exists as a collective force against forgetting, ensuring that similar tragedies do not recur in the future. 

The symbols of this campaign are betel and areca nut. In the traditions of many communities, betel and areca nut symbolize intimacy, dialogue, and trust. They are used to open up a space for long-term communication, both to establish new relationships and to repair broken ones. This campaign also aims to pave the way for public dialogue, foster recognition, and preserve memory. 

Komnas Perempuan, together with the civil society, maintains this spirit through various public initiatives, including: 

1. Napak Reformasi (Retracing the Reformation)

   This initiative invites the public — especially the younger generation — to learn directly from the historical sites that witnessed the May 1998 Tragedy. From the sites of riots, to the places where victims died, to spaces that hold traces of the dark past.

   Napak Reformasi is not simply a “historical pilgrimage”, but an alternative educational space which affirms that human rights violations have occurred, and that we have a responsibility to ensure they are not repeated.

   The goal is to strengthen public recognition of the victims’ experiences, open dialogue, encourage critical historical education, and honor the efforts of victims and civil society in preserving memory.

2. Rujak Pare Festival

   A cultural space that commemorates the dark events of the past through the community’s discussions, artworks and creative expressions. This festival emphasizes that collective memory can be preserved not only through words, but also through the culture that lives within the community.

3. Public Discussion

   This forum is open to the public to explore the perspectives of victims, activists, academics, and legal practitioners. This discussion serves as a means to build critical awareness that resolving cases of gross human rights violations is not solely a legal matter, but also a humanitarian one.

4. Online Campaigns

   Using digital media to disseminate information, stories, and messages of truth. Online campaigns reach a wide audience, strengthen solidarity across generations, and ensure that victims' narratives are not drowned out by the tide of disinformation or oblivion.

“Let's Speak the Truth” is an invitation to open our eyes, open our ears, and open our hearts. Together, we can refuse to forget and build a more just future by preserving the memories and honoring the experiences of the victims.