In 2007, activist Ita F. Nadia authored a book titled Suara Perempuan Korban Tragedi ’65 (Voices of Female Victims of the 1965 Tragedy), a compilation of testimonies from 10 women who were detained and, upon their return to society, stigmatized as communist supporters.

One interesting story is about Yanti, a survivor from Jakarta who was arrested and detained without trial when she was only 14 years old. Yanti was a member of People’s Youth (Pemuda Rakyat), a wing of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

She was actively involved in People’s Youth activities at Lubang Buaya, an area in East Jakarta where seven Army generals were murdered during a botched coup attempt in 1965 that the New Order government of then president Soeharto blamed on the PKI.

Yanti told the author of her traumatic past. She said she was raped and tortured by prison guards. After her release, she worked as a domestic maid for one of the guards, and said she was sexually enslaved by her employer.

As her dying wish, she said, “I would like to meet the families of the murdered generals and tell them that I didn’t kill them, let alone commit sadism like cutting off their genitals as I was accused of.”

Yanti revealed that she had been haunted by communist stigma. She was afraid of meeting people and she hid her traumatic past from her husband.

Her disheartening account reflected the fate of anyone who was accused of having any sort of connection with the PKI. Many had to bear the stigma even when cases implicating them had never been taken to court.  
They were subject to arbitrary arrest, torture and imprisonment without proper trials. Even after they were released, their identity cards were marked — a stigmatization that denied them and their offspring of civil rights, such as working in the public sector.

Their suspected involvement with the banned party came in three categories, as stated in official documents: Class A (cases were taken to court), Class B (lacking evidence for trial) and Class C (sympathizers).

Since the bungled coup attempt, strongman Soeharto had issued numerous regulations banning the PKI and restricting the party’s members, sympathizers and their relatives from joining the civil service.  

Historian Asvi Warman Adam said president Soeharto would do anything to keep his administration free from PKI elements. In 1981, Soeharto formally banned anyone linked to the party and their family members from the civil service and armed forces, or other strategic jobs such as teaching and preaching.

In 1990, Soeharto issued a decree ordering a special assessment of civil servants. Candidates for civil service jobs (pending appointment) or active civil servants set to be assigned specific duties were regularly scrutinized regarding their or any of their family members’ involvement in the 1965 tragedy.

There was also an obligation for people looking for work to obtain a certificate from the police stating that they were not involved in the communist movement.

The regulations stigmatized suspected communists and PKI sympathizers along with their relatives and offspring. Many bear the shame until today.

In 2000, then president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid unsuccessfully sought the revocation of a 1966 People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree. He was the first president to apologize to victims of the state’s mistreatment. His successor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, reaffirmed communist disbandment in 2003.  

Besides the two regulations, the government also issued several other regulations aimed at preventing a communist revival. New provisions in the amended Criminal Code would lengthen the list.

Rocky Gerung, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Indonesia, criticized the inclusion of the ban on communism in the Criminal Code.

“It’s a bad idea for the ongoing reconciliatory efforts and it exacerbates victims’ sense of injustice. The younger generations should be freed from this political animosity they have nothing to do with,” he said in an interview with The Jakarta Post.

In April last year, the government sponsored a national symposium that brought together some of the surviving victims of the 1965 tragedy, their families and military representatives.

During the event, Haryono, Institute for the Rehabilitation of New Order Victims spokesman, said many had fallen victim to the 1965 massacre, thus it was important for the government to extend an apology.

“We don’t want to revive communism in Indonesia. We just want to ask the President to promote reconciliation,” he said.