Evidence of Police Investigation Procedures as Historical Data: Efforts to Reconstruct Violence Banyuwangi, 1998-1999

Abstract

Abstract: It is Reconstructing the history of mass violence frequently encounters significant methodological challenges due to the scarcity of reliable primary sources, the reluctance of perpetrators and witnesses to disclose past events, and the limited availability of official archives. These challenges are particularly evident in studies of the anti-witchcraft violence that occurred in Banyuwangi, Indonesia, during the late 1990s. This study examines the potential of police investigation records and court archives as alternative primary historical sources for reconstructing episodes of violence when conventional archival materials and oral testimonies are incomplete or inaccessible. Employing the historical method, the research integrates archival research, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography through the analysis of police investigation reports, court proceedings, judicial decisions, and supporting documentary evidence. The findings demonstrate that judicial archives preserve detailed chronological accounts, witness testimonies, suspect interrogations, and material evidence, enabling historians to reconstruct violent events with greater accuracy and to verify information obtained from oral histories. Furthermore, these records reveal dimensions of violence that are frequently absent from public memory and institutional archives. The study contributes to historical methodology by proposing judicial archives as an underutilized yet credible category of primary historical sources for investigating political and communal violence. It also expands the methodological toolkit available to historians by demonstrating how legal documents can complement conventional archival collections and oral history. The findings have broader implications for historical research on violence, transitional justice, and collective memory, particularly in contexts where official state archives remain inaccessible or historical actors are unwilling to provide testimony. Abstrak: Menulis sejarah kekerasan seringkali menemui kendala dalam pencarian data. Hal ini disebabkan adanya kekhawatirkan dan bungkamnya para pelaku untuk mengungkapkan kronologi tentang peristiwa sejarah. Proses pencarian data arsip kadang kala juga tidak banyak ditemukan di lembaga arsip. Di sisi lain, para sejarawan belum begitu familiar terhadap data yang didapat dari pihak berwajib. Rekonstruksi sejarah kekerasan dengan isu dukun santet di Banyuwangi pun juga demikian. Penelusuran data banyak ditemukan kendala seperti pelaku sejarah yang tidak mau menceritakan peristiwa yang terjadi. Peran arsip dari kepolisian dan pengadilan sangat penting, karena dalam berita acara pemeriksaan dan berita pengadilan sudah tertulis. Sejarawan perlu untuk melihat arsip dari pengadilan sebagai salah satu alternatif manakala sejarawan kesulitan dalam mencari data. Pada poin inilah sejarawan harus bisa menjemput arsip tidak hanya terpaku pada lembaga arsip saja, tetapi bisa mencari arsip melalui lembaga seperti pengadilan untuk melihat kronologi dari kekerasan yang terjadi dan sudah diadili di lembaga peradilan. Sejarawan bisa bertindak lebih jauh untuk analisis data dan bisa melihat hasil wawancara yang sudah dilakukan oleh lembaga peradilan. Kajian ini akan membahas tentang peran sejarawan dalam melakukan pencarian data yang berasal dari pengadilan sebagai sumber primer.

Keywords

• Banyuwangi witchcraft
• police investigation procedures
• historical sources