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everal lawmakers have joined in calling for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice.

They said the President should set up an ad hoc human rights tribunal to process those involved in human rights abuses.

In June, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) declared the 1965 purge a gross human rights violation.

Komnas HAM recommended that the government set up a truth and reconciliation committee to settle the case.

It also asked the government to start a reconciliation process and make a public apology to survivors and families of the victims.

More than three months after the recommendations, the President has yet to take any action.

Indeed, the government sent negative signals with an “irritating” remark from Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto who said the killings in 1965-1966 were “justified”.

According to lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari from House Commission III on human rights, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) had not followed up Komnas HAM’s recommendations because there was no court for such proceedings.

“All investigations into human rights violations will lead nowhere unless the President sets up [an ad hoc] court,” she said.

“This is a challenge to the President’s commitment to uphold and protect human rights in our country. Moreover, this is also a challenge for Indonesia’s commitment as a country that has ratified the United Nations’ [UN] convention on human rights,” the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician added.

Separately, Deputy House speaker Priyo Budi Santosa highlighted the importance of forgiveness to begin “the long process of reconciliation” and enable Indonesia to move on from “the painful past”.

“We must admit that the incident claimed the lives of innocent people. Therefore, we must sit together as a nation to forgive each other for what happened. [There is] no need to blame the perpetrators,” Priyo said.

He added that the government must set up a reconciliation committee in order to “heal” the nation.

Meanwhile, human rights activists from various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have also urged Yudhoyono to set up the ad hoc human rights court to resolve all cases of past human rights violations.

“The government still turns a blind eye to the horrific reality of 1965. Now, whether or not he wants to finish this case, the ball is in SBY’s court,” Hendardi from the rights watchdog Setara Institute said.

Another activist, Catholic Priest Franz Magnis-Suseno said that Djoko’s statement about the justifications of mass killings for the sake of the country was baseless.

“There were never legal cause for the killings. Many were killed without reason,” Franz said, adding that the killings were evil conduct.

The government should not murder and prosecute former members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) if they were already stripped from their power after September 1965, he said.

The official number of those slain during the 1965 purge were never recorded. Yet, various sources say the number ranges from 78,000 to 500,000. In addition, millions were believed to have been imprisoned without trial and enslaved in remote islands across the country.

“If the number of the slain people indeed reaches 500,000 people, then Indonesia has secured its place in the list of countries that have committed genocide in the 20th century,” Franz said. (riz)