Jakarta – The government plans to form a joint team to examine mass graves allegedly used to bury victims of the 1965 communist purge as part of its commitment to resolving the tragedy that has been neglected for more than 50 years.
"Soon, we want to prepare a team to inspect firsthand several mass graves reported in Pati and Wonosobo [Central Java]," Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in Jakarta on Monday.
Human rights activists and survivors of the tragedy went to Luhut's office on Monday for discussions and to report their knowledge of around 122 mass graves across Java and Sumatra that they say contain the bodies of at least 13,999 victims of the 1965 communist purge.
The activists and survivors are from the 1965 Murder Victims' Research Foundation (YPKP 65), the Struggle for Rehabilitation of New Order Regime Victims Association (LPR-KROB), the International People's Tribunal on the 1965 tragedy, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
Bedjo Untung, head of YPKP 65, said Luhut had also guaranteed to preserve all mass graves and prevent them from being destroyed or tampered with by hard-line groups.
Moreover, Bedjo said the number of mass graves was still not complete as the last report did not include countless mass graves in Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara.
"Furthermore, the report doesn't include the victims that were murdered and thrown into the seas and rivers during the tragedy, including the Ular River and Asahan River [in Sumatra] and the Brantas River and Bengawan Solo River [both in Java]," Bedjo said.
Quoting Luhut, Bedjo said the joint team would work together with the Attorney General's Office (AGO), the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and archaeologists to examine the mass graves, even though there had been some obstacles thrown up by the military.
"We also asked about the establishment of a reconciliation committee under the President, but Pak Luhut said the team from his ministry would be enough," Bedjo said.
"Pak Luhut also said he had faced challenges from right-leaning groups, including the Indonesian Army, but he was still committed to resolving the case."
The kidnapping and murder of six Army generals on Sept. 30, 1965, led to a purge of communists and alleged communist sympathizers by the military under the leadership of then general Soeharto. It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million people were killed during the cleansing of people with any leftist connections, regardless of their age or level of involvement in left-wing movements.
Komnas HAM has launched its own investigation, but its recommendations have never been followed up by the AGO.
A national symposium organized by Komnas HAM, the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), the Press Council and several other institutions was held from April 18 to 19 to discuss and make further recommendations to the government on the mass killings.
Last year, the International People's Tribunal 1965, initiated by human rights activists, was held from Nov. 10 to 13 in The Hague, the Netherlands, on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy. Reza Muharam, a member of the tribunal, said panelists had been examining thousands of documents and were slated to announce their final results in July.
Reza also said if the final result was to state that the 1965 tragedy was a crime against humanity, the tribunal members would report it to the UN Human Rights Committee, putting further pressure on the Indonesian government.
"Then, if the government is still unwilling and unable to perform concrete actions to resolve the case, the UN could interfere by applying diplomatic pressure or establishing an international ad hoc tribunal," he said. (vps)
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/05/10/government-examine-mass-graves-1965-victims.html