President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is expected to make an apology to families and victims of past human rights abuses, including those who perished in the purge of members of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1965.

A member of the Presidential Advisory Council on legal issues, Albert Hasibuan, confirmed on Wednesday that Yudhoyono intended to deliver an apology, adding that the council was preparing a draft speech for him to approve.

“It all started with the President's willingness [to make an apology] that could serve as a starting point to resolve the country's past human rights violations,” Albert said after a meeting with the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) on Wednesday.

Albert said that with the apology, the country could look to the future without being burdened by the past.

Albert lat...