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ictims of serious human rights violations are demanding the government restore their good name and straighten out history with regard to the outrages they experienced in the past.

They made their demands during a forum on serious human rights violations at the official residence of the Surakarta mayor on Thursday. The forum heard testimony from six former victims who live in Surakarta, Central Java.

A witness of the 1989 Talangsari massacre in Lampung, four witnesses from the 1965 Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) purge and a witness from the 1997/1998 reform activist killings and kidnappings were on hand to tell their stories.

“I just want to have my good name restored because the facts have been twisted. The truth is that the state apparatus arrested and killed innocent people,” Sugeng Yulianto, witness to the Talangsari massacre, told the forum.

Sugeng arrived in Talangsari in 1989 from Surakarta with his migrating family only one day after the incident took place.

The Talangsari massacre was a repression of Muslim communities in Central Lampung accused of being extreme rightists. Hundreds of people were massacred, while some others were reportedly arrested by military personnel.

Sugeng said his wife and his three kids were detained for four months for questioning.

Sugeng was accused of being a rebel and an intruder. “In fact, I knew nothing about the incident until I was arrested and tortured,” he said.

Good name restorations were also demanded by Kastinah Sunardi, 64, Jasmono Wongso Prawiro, 74, Sanusi, 71, and Sudiharjo, 75, all the victims of the 1965 purge.

In her testimony, Kastinah said she was forced to admit she was a member of PKI womens wing Gerwani and was sexually abused during her 14-year imprisonment.

“I just want history to tell the truth, that we are innocent,” Kastinah said.

Meanwhile, Budiharti Fatah, mother of Leonardus Iskandar Nugroho alias Gilang, demanded for a thorough investigation of her son’s case.

Gilang was reportedly kidnapped on May 21, 1998 following the riots in Surakarta as part of the reform movement. He was missing for three days before his body was found shot and stabbed in Sarangan forest, Magetan, East Java.

“My son is just one of the victims. Don’t let the same thing to happen in the future,” she said.

“I will never know why my son was kidnapped. If he was accused of being involved in the riots it was not true because Gilang was sick at that time and did not go out for few days,” said Budiharti.

Budiharti said she had frequently gone to the State Palace with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), seeking for justice but nothing happened.

Kontras data shows that 23 activists were kidnapped during 1997/1998. One was dead, nine were released and the other 13 are still declared missing today.

Winarso, coordinator of the 1965 Joint Secretariat that organized the forum, said that his organization would continue assisting the victims until their demands were met while at the same time helping them restore their self confidence and get through their trauma.

“The facts have been twisted. The truth must be revealed,” said Winarso, expressing hope that the government would admit the witnesses were victims of serious human rights violations.