Truth commission's brief includes '65 killings<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A draft law proposes that the planned commission
\nfor truth and reconciliation focus its tasks on settlement of
\ngross human rights violations which occurred between 1965 and
\n1989, a member of the team drawing up the bill said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Ifdhal Kasim from the Institute for Policy Research and
\nAdvocacy, who represents the nongovernmental organizations in the
\nteam of drafters, said the limitation was a technical matter.<\/p>\n
He said while human rights violations occurred in the lead up
\nto the fall of the government of founding president Sukarno in
\n1965, it was more realistic for the commission to trace human
\nrights violations that happened about 35 years ago, where
\nwitnesses, survivors and victims were still alive.<\/p>\n
\"The interval of time is not too long, so the commission can
\nwork on cases that occurred within the span of this period,\" he
\ntold journalists on the sidelines of a dialog with members of
\nSouth Africa's truth commission here.<\/p>\n
Ifdhal maintained that there had been no official explanation
\nof the bloodshed that followed the 1965 abortive coup that was
\nblamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).<\/p>\n
Nobody knows the exact number of people killed in the
\nmilitary-backed operation to root out suspected communists, but
\nforeign reports put the toll at 500,000.<\/p>\n
The descendants of PKI supporters have been forbidden to enter
\ngovernmental institutions or the military, or to join political
\ngroupings and have been hampered in the obtaining of public
\nfacilities. Their identity cards had been stamped with a special
\nmark revealing their political status until last year.<\/p>\n
\"The commission is tasked with unveiling the truth of the 1965
\ncase and furthermore putting history back on track,\" he added.<\/p>\n
According to the draft, the fifth since the drafting started
\nin February, the commission is entitled to recommend that the
\nPresident grant amnesty to human rights perpetrators, provided
\nthat they confess their guilt before the commission.<\/p>\n
The commission will be selected by a special team in
\nconsultation with the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Alex Boraine, visiting deputy chairman of the South African
\nTruth and Reconciliation Commission, warned that reconciliation
\nwill face resistance.<\/p>\n
\"You need reconciliation, and it needs commitment from the
\ngovernment, institutions, and society. It's painful, but you have
\nto face up to the truth of the past because you can't build a new
\nsociety on lies,\" the professor of law at New York University
\nremarked.<\/p>\n
\"And by obtaining public acknowledgement of the past, you can
\navoid committing similar crimes.\" (bby)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/truth-commissions-brief-includes-65-killings-1447893297",
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