Twelve years after the ouster of President Suharto, who was believed to have encouraged racial attacks, ethnic Chinese have seen their lot improve but many say they are still treated like outsiders.

By This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Los Angeles Times.  July 4, 2010

Reporting from Jakarta, Indonesia —

Ruminah winces as she recalls the afternoon a mob ransacked her tiny hair salon, smashing windows and destroying both the business and her faith in justice in her homeland.

More than a decade later, the reason she was attacked still haunts her: She is part Chinese.

In May 1998, during two deadly days of racially fueled mayhem, rioters killed 1,000 people and raped 87 women, most of Chinese descent. Others cowered in their homes as the rape squads, reportedly led by army thugs, roamed the streets of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

The petite Ruminah, who, like many here, goes by one name, lost more than her shop that day. Her developmentally disabled son was killed in a fire set by looters at a nearby mall.

"I'm not a smart person," said Ruminah, 54, an Indonesian-born Muslim whose grandmother married a Chinese merchant here, "but I know my son died that day because he looked Chinese."

Many of the 5 million ethnic Chinese here, who represent a scant 2% of the population in this predominantly Muslim nation of 248 million, have for years awaited the results of a government investigation of the attacks. Twelve years later, no arrests have been made.

The inquiry stalled years ago when investigators said they failed to find hard evidence of military involvement. The Indonesian government has recently suggested that it will no longer pursue the matter, despite lingering suspicions that the riots were instigated by soldiers influenced by the nation's political leadership.

Without an official report to the contrary, many Indonesians question whether the rapes even occurred. READ MORE