Semarang – Victims and the families of victims of gross human rights violations during the 1965 tragedy and the mysterious shootings (Petrus) in 1982-1985 in Central Java are urging the government to straighten out the history of the two incidents.
This was conveyed when they took part in a virtual event to launch the Implementation of Recommendations on the Non-Judicial Settlement of Gross Human Rights violations, which took place in the provincial capital of Semarang on Tuesday June 27.
Supari, a Kendal resident who was imprisoned for nine months on the island prison of Nusakambangan off Central Java because he was alleged to have been involved in the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), said that straightening out history is important because it is related to future of the nation and the next generation.
"Straightening out history must not be forgotten, it cannot be left behind because it is related to the future and the nation's next generation. Like in my case, at the time I was labeled PKI and had to be disposed of and put behind bars in Nusakambangan, then my grandchildren also suffered stigmatisation as grandchildren of a PKI member, so there were problems with school and work. Yes, hopefully Pak [Mr] Jokowi [President Joko Widodo] will listen", said Supari following the event.
A similar view was conveyed by Semarang resident Eko Ari whose father Sugeng was found dead after being picked up and taken away by government officials – or in other words became a victim of Petrus.
Because of Petrus, Ari said that he, his younger sibling and mother were labeled as a family of criminals and this stigmatisation continued for decades and to this day.
"Because of the Petrus affair, my father was killed and became a victim so that my father was considered a criminal. This has continued to this day, me and my younger sibling were labeled children of a criminal, my mother was labeled the wife of a criminal up until the end of her life. So I also agree there must be a straightening out of history", said Ari at the same event.
Nevertheless, both Supari and Ari expressed their thanks to President Widodo who they said had the courage to acknowledge that gross human rights violations had happened in Indonesia and is paying attention to the victims as well as their families. (dmr/kid)
Notes
Following an alleged coup attempt by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in September 1965, former General Suharto and the military mounted a bloody counter-revolution in which as many as 1 million communists and left wing sympathisers were killed, and hundreds of thousands of others interned for years without trial.
Known as penembakan misterius (mysterious shootings), or Petrus, the incidents revolved around the extrajudicial execution of alleged criminals without trial between 1983 and 1985, which then president Suharto said in his biography was "shock therapy" he himself condoned. Almost every day, corpses with gunshot wounds were found in streets, rivers, forests or open spaces for the public to see during the anti-crime drive. The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) estimates the operation claimed between 6,000 and 8,000 lives.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Korban 1965 dan Petrus di Jateng Desak Pelurusan Sejarah".]
