By Christine Khamis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
JAKARTA, Indonesia –
Indonesia’s security minister has announced that its government will not launch a criminal investigation into anti-Communist purges that occurred in the country during the mid-1960s. The Indonesian government plans to address atrocities committed during the period in some way, but no definitive cause of action has been decided upon at this point.
A symposium was held on Monday to address the purges, where Luhut B. Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs, announced that the government would not initiate a criminal investigation. Mr. Luhut said that Indonesia’s government would instead attempt to answer questions about the purge over time. Mr. Luhut also stated at the symposium that the government would be open to official complaints from survivors of the purges. However, the government has no plans to issue a formal apology to victims.
Hundreds of thousands of people were killed during the purges, which occurred from 1965-1966. The purges were set off by a quashed uprising within Indonesia’s armed forces. Authorities claimed the Indonesian Communist Party had orchestrated the uprising. Soldiers, military-backed civilians, paramilitary, and religious groups carried out the purges, killing at least 500,000 people, including many who had no ties to Communism.
Many survivors of the purges were imprisoned without trial for years. Descendants of Communist Party members are stigmatized in Indonesia’s society and are prohibited from holding government jobs, including police and military positions.
Indonesia’s government has yet to formally acknowledge the purges, which many historians consider one of the worst mass atrocities to occur in the 20th century. Official government policy on the matter at this time is that the killings were justified to prevent a Communist takeover and that the death toll estimates may not be accurate. This week’s symposium is the first time that the government has engaged in a public discussion of the purges.
The National Commission on Human Rights, an independent body separate from Indonesia’s government, urged the government to initiate a criminal investigation in 2012 after declaring that the purges had violated human rights. The government failed to initiate the criminal investigation.
For more information, please see:
Associated Press – Indonesia Takes Step Toward Reckoning With ’65-66 Atrocities – 18 April 2016
Newsweek – Indonesia Allows Talk of 1965 Anti-Communist Purge That Left Half a Million Dead – 18 April 2016
The New York Times – Indonesia Rules Out Criminal Inquiry of Anti-Communist Purges – 18 April 2016
South China Morning Post – Indonesia Vows to Resolve ‘Dark History’ Around 1965-66 Anti-Communist Massacre but Rules Out Formal Apology – 18 April 2016
