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Calls to renew probe of 1965 tragedy mount
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A dark time -- 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 all the operations to restore security and impose order in the aftermath of the alleged coup attempt. (JP/30 Tahun Indonesia Merdeka)
F
ollowing the release of declassified United States files on the 1965-1966 tragedy, activists have called on the government to use the release as an opportunity to refresh and conclude a long-stalled investigation into the mass killings, for the sake of justice for the victims and families.
Some 30,000 pages of files from the US Embassy released on Tuesday revealed more details of the campaign to purge thousands of members and alleged sympathizers of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
Amnesty International Indonesia director Usman Hamid called on the Indonesian Military (TNI), which was mentioned many times in the US archives, to release its own records on the tragedy publicly, to reveal the truth about what really happened at the time.
“There should be a comparison between the declassified US files and the Indonesian government’s archives. This opportunity can be used to renew efforts [to resolve the tragedy] as long as the government has the willingness to do it,” he said at a press conference on Friday.
He called on the government to send an official request through the Foreign Ministry to obtain the US government’s archives and use the files as part of efforts to ensure accountability and justice for the survivors of the 1965 tragedy and their families.
The US files, Usman said, could solve the excuses made by officials who repeatedly claimed that difficulties in solving the country’s dark past lie in the lack of evidence and witnesses to bring the cases to court.
The trove of files had also highlighted systematic human rights abuses during the 1965 atrocities. A telegram dated 28 Dec. 1965, for instance, recorded that people accused of being PKI members were brought to an unknown location where they were slaughtered and buried. Another cable in the same month revealed that the Army handed over 10 to 15 prisoners to civilians to be executed.
