Three people were injured after a group of people who called themselves the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front attacked the families of victims of the 1965-66 purge of suspected communist sympathizers.

The attack came as the victims' families gathered on Sunday in Sleman, Yogyakarta, to discuss the problems they faced during decades of official and social discrimination from being labeled communists or communist sympathizers.

"They said they were from the FAKI [Indonesian Anti-Communist Front], they attacked from all directions. We were besieged," Irina Dayasih, a committee member, said as quoted by Tempo.co.

Irina said that the discussion was not only attended by family members of the victims of the purge, but also by people with no connection to those events.

"There were also young people who were facing financial difficulties. This was the first gathering that we ever held. We were going to discuss how to solve their problems," Irina said.

Organizers scheduled the discussion for 11 a.m., but half an hour before it started three people who had just arrived were attacked by a group of people from the FAKI in front of the building. The three victims sustained injuries.

Irina said that the police, village and subdistrict officials came to see the organizers earlier in the morning to inform them that a group of people were planning to break up the discussion. Irina said she had told her visitors that the event was harmless and that they were going to have a discussion about the economy. Irina said that the police had told her that they would guard the event, but failed to do so.

Syamsudin Nurseha, the director of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Foundation, said that the state had failed to protect the rights of its citizens.

He said that Indonesia had ratified the international covenant on civil and political rights, which required the state to protect its citizens when they gathered and held discussions.

"The police must investigate the case and arrest the perpetrators. Let's prevent such incident from happening again," Syamsudin said.

Up to a million people accused of being members or sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) were killed from 1965 to 1966, while millions other suffered extrajudicial detention and discrimination. On the pretext of his claimed success in getting rid of the communist threat, Suharto then took power from President Sukarno to begin what became known as the New Order.