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View all search resultsPolitical exiles to regain citizenship
Jokowi to make announcement on Indonesians stateless since 1965 on apology tour.
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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will restore the citizenship of Indonesians who were rendered stateless abroad after the 1965 anti-communist purge that led to the killing of thousands of citizens for their affiliation with, or suspected links to, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), a top official has said.
The policy is part of a renewed commitment by the Jokowi administration to right the wrongs of the past, a major policy shift for a government that has long put human rights issues on the back burner.
In a surprise gesture last week, the President acknowledged and expressed regret on behalf of the state for dozens of past human rights violations and pledged to provide restitution for victims and their families.
The President is now scheduled to go an apology tour, where he will meet with victims of human rights abuses and their families to demonstrate his willingness to tackle the politically sensitive issue, according to Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD.
"These ceremonial trips will show the public that the government means business [with its pledge],” the minister told reporters at the State Palace on Monday.
Intercontinental contrition
Jokowi, Mahfud said, would visit domestic sites of human rights violations, such as Aceh province, where years of bloody conflict occurred between Jakarta and the local armed rebellion, and Talangsari, a village in Lampung where hundreds of people were reportedly killed in a raid by members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) who accused residents of planning to establish an Islamic state.
