Jakarta – Attorney General M. Prasetyo said that victims of the 1965 communist purge testifying at a people's tribunal in The Hague should not be concerned about their safety if they returned to the country.
Prasetyo said the witnesses had nothing to fear and could, in fact, join the government's effort to establish a joint reconciliation team on past gross human rights violations.
"Why should they be scared? They don't need to be scared. Just come back, it is no longer a problem. If they are scared, it indicates that they could be wrong. If they're innocent, then just come back, stop by at the Attorney General's Office [AGO]," he said at the AGO headquarters in South Jakarta on Friday.
On Tuesday, a group of activists held an international people's tribunal on the 1965 communist purge and, among its indictments, accused the government of murder, torture and sexual abuse.
Both victims of the purge and researchers have testified to atrocities that occurred from 1965 onwards. The Indonesian government has repeatedly dismissed the tribunal as it is legally non-binding.
Prasetyo said that the hearing's conclusion, which was set to be released on Friday local time, would not affect either the Indonesian government or the Dutch government.
However, he acknowledged that it would be sometime before the Indonesia's government could set up a reconciliation team that could bring closure to past rights abuses.