Activists and the government overlook ex-political detainees
Activists and the government overlook ex-political detainees
By Dewi Anggraeni
MELBOURNE (JP): Most Indonesia watchers would agree that the
country has made a definite turn toward a better and more
democratic Indonesia, though the road is dangerous and the
journey unpredictable.
A conference held recently in Melbourne, entitled
"Rethinking Indonesia", clearly conveyed this message.
The conference painted an extensive picture for participants
to assess for themselves the achievements and gaps so far.
One gap, it appeared, is the fate of former political
detainees, casualties of the New Order regime.
Speaking about the role of the political left in the future of
Indonesia at the conference was Hardoyo, a former political
detainee. While his paper was an interesting summary of the
situation, one aspect hit the participating audience a little
below the cerebral level. Many later commented only on that
aspect.
Hardoyo spoke of what former political detainees like himself
still had to face in this increasingly democratic Indonesia.
In an era where globally, apologies and reconciliation are
words weighted with hopes for a better society, the fate of the
former political detainees has somehow slipped the broader vision
of those in power, as well as most social activists.
President Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur, is no doubt aware of
the importance of apologies as the beginning of a healing
process, a precursor to reconciliation, because he recently went
to East Timor to personally deliver an apology to the people of
the newly independent nation.
Gus Dur has also asked the current minister of home affairs,
according to Hardoyo, to lift the oppressive and discriminating
Ministerial Instruction no. 32/1981, yet until now it is still in place.
The offending decree is entitled the Guidance and Monitoring
of Former Political Detainees and Prisoners of G30S/PKI,
referring to the coup attempt of Sept. 30 1965, and has been
responsible for severely limiting the basic freedom of those it
purports to protect.
As Hardoyo told The Jakarta Post, "We merely shifted from a
small prison to a larger one called society."
On their release, the political detainees and prisoners had to
sign a document, stating among other things, that they rejected
Marxism and communism; whole-heartedly accepted Pancasila; would
not become involved in political activities; and most
importantly, forfeit the right to sue the government for the
imprisonment and subsequent treatment meted out to them.
For someone who was detained without trial for 13 years,
Hardoyo does not come across as cripplingly embittered. When at a
meeting with Gus Dur, the President asked him what he wished the
government to do for him, but he only asked that his full rights
as a citizen be restored. He did not ask for compensation.
Hardoyo said that as an ex-political detainee he could not
move from one province to another without a permit from the
governor's office. The permit is only given if there is a
guarantee from a third person that he will observe all the rules
imposed on him.
"In essence, we are regarded as no more than idiots, who do
not have full control of our faculties," he said.
To go overseas, the conditions are even more stringent. He has
to prove no involvement in any political activities; be suitably
employed; have a testimony of good behavior from a local
government head; have a written guarantee from a person or an
institution deemed reliable that he will return to his place of
residence; and that he will not visit any places other than that
nominated in the application for the permit.
In employment he is to avoid work that can influence other
people directly or indirectly in terms of developing communist
ideology, which includes teaching, religious work, puppeteering,
legal aid and journalism.
He is also not allowed to work in a job where there is an
apparent large concentration of people, such as in a company
where all the workers consists of former political detainees and
prisoners associated with G30S and the banned Indonesian
Communist Party.
Hardoyo said he is also prevented from taking part in social
activities which are deemed to have the potential to cause
disturbances in socio-political, economic and cultural spheres as
well as national order and security.
The control even stretches to monitoring the thoughts of
former detainees and prisoners. They are not to display any
attitudes or manners deemed to have the potential to undermine
the strength of the Pancasila ideology.
Hardoyo, born on March 6, 1934, in Kediri said his parents
taught him to be "compassionate toward and, if necessary, defend,
those less fortunate than themselves."
These values drove him to join forces to drive and keep the
Dutch away during the second political clash in the 1940s, and
work against harsh initiation programs for university students
by joining a left-leaning student organization, CGMI, where he
was elected general chairman of the working committee at the 1960
congress.
In his subsequent positions he served on the education,
cultural, sports, religion and health committees.
On Nov. 10 1966 he was arrested, then detained, in military
detention centers in Nirboyo and Salemba in Jakarta. Hardoyo
recounted that for their sustenance, the detainees relied a great
deal on aid from church organizations, humanitarian bodies and
family members.
Some of the highlights of his incarceration were making
acquaintances with occasional detainees, including activists such
as Subadio Sastrosatomo, Marsillam Simandjuntak, Rachman Tolleng,
Sjahrir and journalist Mochtar Lubis.
Hardoyo said he does not know why democracy and human rights
activists seem to overlook the injustices meted out to people
like himself. He hopes that the truth and reconciliation
commission yet to be formed will take up their cause.
"I think this commission will have an extremely tough job,
handling so many cases of human rights violations that happened
and are still happening, in such an extended geographical area,
involving a great number of people," he said.