INDONESIA: Inquiry into 1965 massacre must continue

INDONESIA: Crime against Humanity – state-organised mass killings, disappearances, torture, long-term political imprisonment and lifelong discrimination, threats to human rights defenders
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This is an Urgent Appeal to all concerned with supporting the victims of one of the most horrific crimes of the 20th Century: Indonesia’s 1965 massacre. The first preliminary investigation into the massacre is in danger of being shelved because the human rights commissioners are being harassed by militia gangs and lobbied by political elite connected to the Suharto’s military rule.  We are asking you to immediately email the commissioners of Komnas HAM to urge them to continue and deepen the inquiry into the massacre leading to the formation of an effective human rights tribunal. You can do this very quickly and simply at the following AHRC webpage:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/indonesia1965/

Below you will find the relevant background information and the details for how to act if you can’t access the internet.

BACKGROUND

During the 1965 massacre, Suharto organised the extermination of an estimated 1 million unarmed civilians, the political imprisonment and torture of 200,000 political opponents and the life-long exclusion and discrimination of anyone with suspected links to Communism.  This was ideological genocide.

Nothing has been done about this massacre.  It’s as if it never happened, or if it did it was the right thing to do.  The authorities have ignored evidence painstakingly compiled by families of the victims, eyewitness reports and dozens of skeletons uncovered from mass graves.

In these conditions, the announcement of a preliminary inquiry by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) was a big breakthrough for those seeking to bring the facts of this massacre into the light of day.

However, the inquiry has suffered from miniscule resources and a ludicrous 6-month time frame.  In this time, the investigation team has only been able to research incidents that occurred in two locations: on the infamous <\?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Buru Island prison camp, and a massacre that occurred in Semarang, Central Java. Even this tiny part of the crime should be enough to warrant a much deeper investigation, as necessary for any gross violation of human rights.

However, Komnas HAM is facing immense pressure to shelve the inquiry.  The investigators have been personally threatened by telephone.  General Wiranto has publicly demanded an end to the investigation into Suharto-era crimes. A 500-strong militia gang has protested at the Komnas HAM headquarters, threatening grave violence if the investigation into the 1965 case is continued.  Top-level professors from the University of Indonesia are lobbying the commissioners to keep silent about the massacre.  It can even be said that some of the commissioners themselves have a personal interest in stopping the investigation because of their history during the Suharto era.

The Inquiry Team will deliver its report on the 15th of May, meeting its incredibly short deadline despite severe constraints on resources.  Komnas HAM will be deciding whether to seriously investigate this crime against humanity or to forget it ever happened.

SUGGESTED ACTION

We are asking you to write to the commissioners of Komnas HAM and demand that the investigation into this case be continued.  If you can access the internet, you can send an email directly to the commissioners by going to the following address: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/indonesia1965/

If this is not convenient, below is a sample letter and the relevant contact details.  Please write immediately.

 

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER