Jokowi Expected to Issue Statement on 1965, but No Apology

The Jakarta Globe, 30 Sept. 2015


Jakarta. President Joko Widodo was expected to issue a statement in relation to the 1965-66 anti-communist massacres on Thursday, but senior officials have already confirmed that no apology will be issued for the state's role in what has been described as one of the worst mass killings of the twentieth century.

State Secretary Pratikno confirmed on Wednesday that Joko would lead the Pancasila Day ceremony at the Pancasila Monument in East Jakarta from 8 a.m. on Thursday.

The commemoration marks the Army's success in restoring order after what the military has always maintained was an attempted coup against then-president Sukarno by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) on Sept. 30, 1965.

The 500,000 to one million people killed in the ensuing anti-communist crackdown in various parts of the country play no role whatsoever in the Pancasila Day ceremony, which was introduced by the late president Suharto, who led the bloody crackdown as an Army general.

At the ceremony, Joko will officiate a full military service to honor the six generals and one lower-ranking officer killed in the supposed coup attempt. Leaders of the executive and legislative branches of the government are also expected to attend.

High hopes

Joko, who took office in 2014 with high public hopes that he would address past human rights cases, has formed a committee to seek reconciliation for gross human rights violations involving the military. Activists suspect the move is merely an attempt to settle the matter out of court and retain impunity for perpetrators, many of whom remain in powerful positions and even part of the president's inner circle.

But even an acknowledgment that crimes against humanity have been committed fifty years ago proved too much for several political elites and groups.

Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, two of the biggest Islamic groups in Indonesia, have denounced attempts to apologize for the massacre, as have politicians from former president Suharto’s Golkar Party and officials from the PPAD, the military’s biggest veterans’ association.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Panjaitan, himself a former four-star general, reiterated on Wednesday that the president had no intention of apologizing.

“I am involved in the reconciliation process and I can confirm that [such apologies] will not happen,” he said.

“We are still seeking the right format [for reconciliation]. We want to make peace with our past.”

'PKI should apologize'

Nusron Wahid, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama's youth wing GP Ansor said it is the PKI who should apologize first, “for their treachery and the violence instigated.”

Nusron, who has been appointed by Joko to lead the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), was adamant that the government need not apologize for the lives lost during the crackdown, saying that this would only “inspire more to launch a rebellion.”

Ansor has been accused of being instrumental in the murder of thousands of alleged communist party members and sympathizers across the country, mainly sparked by rumors that the PKI was ready to slaughter Islamic leaders if the party succeeded in its alleged coup attempt.

Author Soe Tjen Marching, who is currently working on a book chronicling the lives of victims of the 1965 purge, wrote in the Jakarta Globe's opinion section that one of the prevailing arguments to justify the killings is: “it was either us or them.”

“It seems however that the official discourse as propagated by the New Order regime has prevented people from thinking clearly about this issue until today,” she wrote.

“Many people [...] fail to comprehend that if the communists in Indonesia were really on the brink of starting a violent revolution, why was it so easy to murder them en masse? Millions of people were slaughtered in cold blood, buried alive, imprisoned, tortured and raped almost without anybody putting up serious a fight.”

'Innocent victims'

Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly has said the government will not apologize to the PKI but is ready to acknowledge that many innocent lives have been lost in the crackdown, including teachers, writers, labor unionists, women activists and artists.

The crackdown also saw at least 1 million people imprisoned for years without trial and upon release endure harassment and discrimination. Their relatives sometimes continue to suffer the same fate until today.

“There are many innocent people falling victim,” Yasonaa said, as quoted by Detik.com. “There are those who only received a hoe [from the PKI] and were branded a communist. We are not apologizing to the PKI or pardoning the PKI. This is about the [innocent] victims.”



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http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/indonesia-no-intention-issuing-apology-joko-1965-massacre/

Zelfs SBY een ex generaal kon het niet eens doen.
Want als aan de ene kant excuus wordt aangeboden krijg je problemen met de andere kant.
Alles wordt weer opgerakeld .

Aanvulling: mijn persoonlijke mening is dat men , de betrokkenen met elkaar moeten praten, schoonschip maken, REKONSILIASI op zijn Indonesisch.
Dat gebeurde ook , alleen in een kleine kring .
Dat de (huidige)regering wel excuus biedt aan iedereen(alle Indonesiers).
Als men de discussies van de afgelopen jaren volgt , vroegen een klein deel :
1. excuus (terecht) dat de toenmalige regering verzuimde of te laat in te grijpen
2. rehabilitatie

PERNYATAAN KO-SUTRADARA

Film Senyap, dan juga film sebelumnya, Jagal, adalah sebuah pengingat bahwa kebenaran belum lagi tuntas diungkapkan, keadilan belum lagi ditegakkan, permintaan maaf belum lagi dikatakan, korban belum direhabilitasi—apalagi mendapatkan rekompensasi atas segala yang dirampas dari mereka. Sesudah itu semua, sejarah yang diajarkan di sekolah masih bungkam mengenai kekejaman dan kejahatan terhadap kemanusiaan yang menimpa jutaan orang.

Film Senyap, bagi saya adalah gaung bagi suara-suara lirih keluarga korban, penyintas, dan mereka yang tertindas. Saya berharap gemanya akan sanggup memperkuat suara-suara itu, karena di sela-sela kesenyapan itu juga ada banyak harapan.

Film Senyap menunjukkan betapa rekonsiliasi adalah sebuah jalan panjang, penuh rintangan, dan berat. Kami berharap pesan film Senyap ini mencerminkan optimisme kami: “Rekonsiliasi adalah jalan berat, bukan jalan yang tak mungkin.”
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Rekonsiliasi adalah jalan berat , bukan jalan yang tidak mungkin .

We hopen dat het boodschap onze optimisme laat zien .
Reconciliatie is een lange en zware weg , maar niet onmogelijk .

In de praktijk zijn er  zo veel slachtoffers , direct / indirect betrokkenen, ooggetuigen  die de verzoeningsproces  vertragen of zelfs  kan tegenwerken.