Human rights activists have implored President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to send a formal request to the US government to unlock archives related to the 1965 communist purge.

The US has records about what happened in 1965 regarding the level of involvement of the US government and the alleged killers, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) executive director Kenneth Roth said.

“We want to know who knew what. What were the channels of communication? Were names conveyed by the US government to the Indonesian government and, if so, what happened to those people? It regards operational details: cables, diplomatic messages, CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] messages,” Roth told a media conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

However, admitting that the documents exist is not a substitute for the truth telling process, he added,Indonesia should deal with its dark past as it has become a terrible precedence on how it addresses differences in the country.

The tragedy on Sept. 30, 1965, saw five army generals killed and the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) condemned as alleged perpetrator. A year later, an estimated 500,000 PKI members, alongside those whom were accused of being PKI affiliated, were murdered — a tragedy that has remained behind a veil of mystery. The events led to the downfall of founding president Sukarno, who was replaced by Soeharto in 1966.

HRW seems confident that president Barack Obama will help if the Indonesian government clearly shows goodwill regarding the truth behind the history, as Obama had previously opened access to data on the so-called Dirty War in Brazil and Argentina.

“We realize there is resistance from the [Indonesian] Army and the NU [Nadhlatul Ulama], who are not eager for the truth process to move forward. Frankly, this is where Indonesian civil society has a role to play. The more the press clamors for the truth and the more civil society joins in, the more likely President Jokowi is to possess the political backing required to overcome this resistance,” Roth remarked.

In March, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) sent a letter to president Obama requesting that the US open its archives and reveal the truth of the tragedy.

HRW and local rights watchdog Kontras hope to see the upcoming symposium on the 1965 tragedy recommend that the president appeal to the US government. The symposium scheduled for April 18 and 19, co-organized by the President Advisory Board 1and Komnas HAM aims to discuss the psychological, social and political aspects that caused the murders to occur.

Symposium team member Agus Widjojo said the event will focus on reconciliation method to solve the problem and may recommend the president to request US assistance if needed.

“We’ll also recommend truth telling process that is done based on what the victims and families experience during the tragedy, but not on what happened in the era as it would be a judicial process,” Agus, son of Gen. Sutoyo Siswomiharjo who was killed in the 1965 tragedy, said.

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