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Govt urged to publish 1965 symposium recommendations
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Then Maj. Gen. Soeharto briefs members of the Army’s Special Forces (RPKAD, now Kopassus) prior to the removal of the bodies of the Army generals who were murdered during an alleged coup attempt on Sept. 30, 1965, which was blamed on the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). As the most senior military officer available at the time, Soeharto led the operations to restore security and impose order in the aftermath of the alleged coup attempt. (JP/30 Tahun Indonesia Merdeka/File)
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ctivists have urged the government to make public the recommendations of a national symposium of victims of the 1965 communist purge held in Jakarta on April 18-19.
The two-day symposium was held to seek reconciliation for the 1965 mass killings, the recommendations of which the government has promised to use in resolving the historic human rights abuse case.
Forum 1965 activist Wara Ananditari said Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto should fulfil his promises that the ministry would push efforts to settle serious past human rights abuses, including the 1965 mass killings, in a comprehensive and transparent manner.
"We cannot see any transparency, however, as the recommendations are being hidden from us [...] The public and victims of the 1965 mass killings have every right to know the outcome of the reconciliation process," Wara said on Wednesday.
Following the submission of the symposium’s results to his ministry in May, then coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister Luhut Pandjaitan said his office could not yet publish the document as the government still needed to conduct a further study of the recommendations.
Harry Wibowo of the International People's Tribunal on the 1965 Crimes against Humanity (IPT 1965) said the symposium’s recommendations should be regarded as a public document because they were drafted using the input of all participants in the event.
He said it was the responsibility of the state to publish the document to guarantee the public’s right to information and justice.
"If the government still lacks the political will to publish the document, we will push for it through a legal process and file this case with the Central Information Commission," Harry said. (ebf)
