Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Survivors of the 1965 anti-communist purge could finally receive justice with the settling of differences, after years of deadlock, between the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Komnas HAM commissioner Roichatul Aswidah, who leads the commission's team probing past human rights abuses, said that the rights body and the AGO recently agreed to set up a joint investigation team to review and follow up on Komnas HAM's findings on the 1965 purge, which declared it a gross human rights violation.
"There is hope. It's clear now that both Komnas HAM and the AGO aim to resolve the problem. It's major progress after years of deadlock because of disagreements between us on technicalities," Roichatul told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Roichatul said the joint investigative team would comprise members of Komnas HAM and the AGO as well as independent figures endorsed by both institutions.
"We are still thoroughly discussing it. But, either way, the most important issue is that we are moving forward to follow up a recommendation by the UNHRC [United Nations Human Rights Council]," she said. Roichatul was referring to UNHRC's recommendation made during the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) meeting in its headquarters in Geneva last July.
The UN agency urged the Indonesian government to resolve deadlock between Komnas HAM and the AGO within a year so that the government could follow up on Komnas HAM's findings on alleged past gross human rights violations, including the anti-communist purge of 1965.
The AGO's spokesperson Setia Untung Arimuladi did not return a call from the Post seeking a response on Sunday.
Separately, member of the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing law and human rights Eva Kusuma Sundari encouraged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to immediately issue a presidential decree to rehabilitate the rights of survivors of the 1965 purge, some of whom are already extremely old.
"The issuance of such a decree could be a win-win solution because I believe that the survivors are willing to forgive mistakes from the past because they only want their rights rehabilitated, and their descendants officially cleared of stigma," Eva, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said.
After comprehensively investigating the incident for nearly four years, Komnas HAM officially announced in July last year that the state-sponsored purge that followed the 1965 aborted coup met all the criteria of a gross violation of human rights.
According to the investigation by Komnas HAM, officials from the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (Kopkamtib), at the time the country's highest security authority and which was first led by then Gen. Soeharto, were involved in the systematic and widespread killing of members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and countless other civilians suspected of having political ties to the party.
The investigation also concluded that government officials committed crimes against humanity including murder, annihilation, slavery, forced disappearances, limits on physical freedom, torture, rape, persecution and forced prostitution.
There was no official response after Komnas HAM submitted its findings to the AGO, but the AGO repeatedly called on the rights body to provide more conclusive evidence from the purge and provide details on those responsible for the crimes.