Let political exiles return home: Scholar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Vocal scholar Arief Budiman has called for the
\ngovernment to allow the many overseas Indonesian political exiles
\nlinked to the 1965 abortive Communist coup to return home.<\/p>\n
His appeal comes on the heels of President Soeharto's decision
\nto grant clemency to three men once tied to the Indonesian
\nCommunist Party (PKI) after nearly 30 years in prison.<\/p>\n
Arief told journalists in Semarang, Central Java, yesterday
\nthat the decision to allow those in exile to return, as with the
\nrelease of the three political prisoners here, should be based on
\nhumanitarian grounds.<\/p>\n
Three prominent political prisoners connected to the PKI --
\nformer deputy prime minister Soebandrio, 81, Air Force vice
\nmarshal Omar Dhani, 71, and police brigadier general S. Soetarto,
\n77, -- were given special remissions on Friday as part of
\nIndonesia's golden anniversary.<\/p>\n
"If the President grants clemency to the three PKI figures,
\nthen there is nothing wrong with the government respecting the
\nwishes of those who wish to die here," Arief said of the reported
\ndesires of those in exile to spend their last days in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
There are an estimated 300 to 400 Indonesians living as
\npolitical exiles abroad who allegedly had ties to PKI or were
\nafraid to return home due to their communist alliances following
\nthe 1965 coup attempt.<\/p>\n
Though there is no precise data, it is thought that some 200
\nreside in Holland and another 100 in Germany and France. There
\nare also some 70 Indonesian communist sympathizers thought to
\nstill be in China.<\/p>\n
Many have now become stateless citizens because they have
\nfailed to report to an Indonesian embassy within a five year
\nperiod.<\/p>\n
Arief noted that while many of them may not be actual
\ncommunists or PKI members, most were afraid to return home to the
\ntumultuous situation in 1965.<\/p>\n
"Many of them were abroad at the time and because of one thing
\nor another they were fearful of returning," he argued.<\/p>\n
Legislators and observers have in the past few days underlined
\nthat the release of Soebandrio, Omar Dhani and Soetarto was
\npermissible because they were not actual PKI members but merely
\n"fellow travelers."<\/p>\n
This point has been further accentuated by the fact that A.
\nLatief, an army officer directly involved in the coup, has not
\nbeen granted clemency, although he has also applied for it.<\/p>\n
Among those exiles who have reportedly expressed a desire to
\nreturn home is A.M. Hanafi, who was Indonesia's ambassador to
\nCuba in 1965 and is now living in Paris.<\/p>\n
Other notable exiles living in Paris are Sobron Aidit, 61, and
\nOemar Said.<\/p>\n
Sobron is the younger brother of PKI chairman D.N. Aidit,
\nwhile Oemar was a journalist for a PKI oriented newspaper.<\/p>\n
The other former Indonesian ambassadors also in exile are A.
\nSoekrisno, 75, former ambassador to Vietnam and Rumania, and
\nDjawoto, 89, former ambassador to Beijing from 1964-1966. Both
\nnow live in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n
Apart from allowing those in exile to return, Arief also urged
\nthe government to release the many prisoners of conscience still
\nincarcerated throughout the country.<\/p>\n
He said he understood the concern of certain sections of
\nsociety who still consider them a danger, but pointed out that
\nthese prisoners are now old men.<\/p>\n
There's no need to worry that the communist ideology will grow
\nagain in Indonesia, he said, adding that if such a danger did
\narise there was always the armed forces to repress such threats.<\/p>\n
A member of the Muhammadiyah central board, Lukman Harun,
\nconcurred that there was little to fear from people like
\nSoebandrio.<\/p>\n
"They are old and because of that they can no longer keep up
\nwith the developments in politics," Lukman remarked from
\nSemarang.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless Lukman still strongly warned against the release
\nof those prisoners who have been identified as die-hard communist
\nor PKI supporters.<\/p>\n
Lukman recounted that during a past visit to the Cipinang
\nprison he noticed that Soebandrio and Omar Dhani were keenly
\ninvolved in religious practices. Some notorious PKI figures such
\nas Sukatno, however, have maintained their allegiance to
\ncommunism by declaring themselves atheists.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the executive chairman of the Committee for the 50th
\nIndependence Anniversary, Emil Salim, said in Jakarta yesterday
\nthat more clemencies might be issued.<\/p>\n
He did not reveal who or when they would be issued, saying
\nonly that it was the complete prerogative of the president.<\/p>\n
"Bapak President wants to bring us into an atmosphere of
\nunity," he said without elaborating.(har\/mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/let-political-exiles-return-home-scholar-1447893297",
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