http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/10/01/history-may-be-rewritten-no-rehabilitation-yet-pki-victims.html History may be rewritten but no rehabilitation yet for PKI victims The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Mon, October 01 2012, 8:26 AM A- A A+ Paper Edition | Page: 2
In spite of new evidence that the prosecution of alleged members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) after the failed 1965 coup was a gross human rights violation, survivors from the tragedy do not hope that justice will be served anytime soon. Historian Asvi Warman Adam said that the 1965 anticommunist purge, just like every other gross violation of human rights in the country, remains an unsolved mystery because of governmental inaction. “Looking back at the long list of human rights violations in Indonesia, the buck stops at the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and none of the perpetrators were ever brought to court. The government failed to punish them,” Asvi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. Asvi, a historian with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that survivors from the tragedy could take solace from the fact the Komnas HAM had declared the purge a gross violation of human rights. In late July, Komnas HAM declared in its findings that the systematic prosecution of alleged members of the PKI after the failed 1965 coup was a gross human rights violation. The commission urged that military officials involved in the purge be brought to trial. “It is very important for the history of our country that in 2012 Komnas HAM officially declared the 1965 purge to be gross violation of human rights. It was an official statement by a government institution, based on the commission’s thorough investigation in all provinces in Indonesia,” Asvi said. Asvi said that the ball is now in the court of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), a government institution with a long history of failure to prosecute cases of human rights violations. Chairman of Komnas HAM Ifdhal Kasim said that the biggest obstacle for the institution to finalize its findings was the absence of concrete evidence such as weapons and bullets that were used to execute the victims. “The events happened long time ago and it is difficult to obtain such evidence. Komnas HAM only collected information and testimonials from victims, former members of the security agencies and forensic evidence from the crime scenes,” Ifdhal said. Ifdhal said that Komnas HAM could do little but call on the AGO to follow through its findings. “It is really up to the AGO whether it will prosecute the case. What they should do is focus the investigation on one crime scene as a sample of other sites where the crime happened,” he added. Even if the AGO finally decided to pursue the case it would need political support from both the government and the House of Representatives, which has been lacking so far. “Those who were alive in the 1960s, including members of the House of Representatives should be more knowledgeable about how important the case is. But they appear to be reluctant to change their views on the 1965 coup,” Ifdhal said. One survivor from the anti-communist witch hunt Mudjayin, 82, said that he, and fellow survivors, are determined to continue fighting to have their reputation rehabilitated by the government. Mudjayin, a former journalist, was detained for 14 years including a spell on Buru Island, without trial. “The Supreme Court and the House of Representatives have issued a recommendation to the President to rehabilitate our rights, but I’ve heard nothing from them since,” Mudjayin told The Jakarta Post. Mudjayin said that the Komnas HAM recommendation had in fact done much to clear their names. “The statement of gross violation of human rights by Komnas HAM has at least banished the stigma attached to the victims although I still don’t know on what grounds the authorities put me in jail,” he said. The government says it supports, Komnas HAM’s recommendation that the 1965 communist purge was a gross human rights violation, saying that this is the state’s obligation. After the Sept. 30, 1965 movement, thousands of people — some estimate as more than 500,000 — suspected of being PKI members and sympathizers, were killed. Many more were imprisoned for years without charge. (nad) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
