Govt supports Komnas HAM’s recommendation

The government says it supports the recommendation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) that the 1965 communist purge was a gross human rights violation, saying that this is the state's obligation.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday that the government was still collating the commission’s facts for further study by the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

“I’ve instructed the AGO and await their results,” Yudhoyono told reporters on Wednesday at the AGO headquarters.

On Monday, the Komnas HAM declared the systematic prosecution of alleged members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) after the failed 1965 coup a gross human rights violation.

The rights commission urged that military officials who were involved in the purge be brought to trial.

During more than three years of investigation, the team had gathered testimony from 349 witnesses.

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.

Attorney General Basrief Arief said his office would decide whether the evidence given by the commission was enough to follow up the recommendations.

“I don’t know when this will finish, but we are hoping as soon as possible,” he said. (fzm)