T

he Foreign Ministry says the government has nothing to do with the proceedings currently underway at the International People'€™s Tribunal (IPT) at The Hague, the Netherlands. The IPT has charged the Indonesian government with multiple crimes committed during the 1965 communist purge.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said that both the Indonesian and the Dutch governments claimed no involvement in the tribunal.

Arrmanatha said that Indonesia respected the right of the IPT to host reconciliation efforts but argued that the proceedings went beyond the legal frameworks in Indonesia and the international community. The IPT is a non-formal process often held by civilian groups to bring attention to unresolved human rights abuses around the world.

The government accepted the event as an expression of free speech and Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi previously asserted that the Indonesian government would support the proceedings on free speech grounds.

'€œIndonesia, as a democratic country that upholds and respects human rights, will not obstruct the hosting of such activities,'€ Arrmanatha told a press conference in Jakarta, on Thursday.

Arrmanatha concluded that just like any country dealing with a murky past, Indonesia had sought to resolve its issues in a manner most appropriate and suitable to its condition. In the case of the 1965 purge, he said the government had emphasized comprehensive reconciliation efforts.