Former political prisoners still haunted by past

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Forty years after the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was accused of masterminding the bloody attempted coup on Sept. 30, 1965, political prisoners associated with the movement still bear scars of incarceration and persecution.

In Medan, former political prisoner Edi Sartimin has lived a lonely life for 27 years after his wife and only child left him because they could not stand living in the shadow of his past.

But the 69-year-old man has kept busy, throwing himself into work with non-governmental organizations as a photographer.

Modestly, Edi said he was not skilled at photography but had taken up the job for something to do.

"I was formerly a soldier with no skills as a photographer but because I am now on my own, I learned to become (one)," said Edi, who lives at the North Sumatra Community Legal Aid office in Medan.

The former chief corporal said he joined the Indonesian Military in 1957 in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra. He was arrested in September 1967 and accused of being a rebel who planned to escape and join fighters in North Kalimantan, a movement allegedly affiliated with the PKI. For the next 11 years, he was rotated around different prisons in Medan.

When he was finally released in 1978, he had to swallow another bitter pill, his wife, Misnem, and his only daughter, Susiana, had left the house, and him.

"They were ashamed having a husband and father like me, who was sent to prison because I was accused of being involved with the PKI. That's why they left me," Edi said.

Another ex-prisoner, M. Farid Hisyam, was also left by his wife and two children after spending only two years inside of a 12-year sentence.

The 69-year-old was jailed for being the head of North Sumatra's Indonesian Students Association affiliated to the PKI. "I feel fine that my wife and children left me. Let people know me as I am," Hisyam said defiantly.

The PKI was accused of being responsible for the coup, which resulted in the killings of six military generals. Former president Soeharto rose to power after the coup attempt. After banning the PKI, his government sent thousands of PKI members and their relatives to prison without trial. Those later released from prison were denied government jobs. Hundreds of thousands more people suspected of being linked to the PKI were slaughtered by their neighbors.

In the years following Soeharto's fall, conditions have become less hostile to suspected PKI members and their families. Early last year, the Constitutional Court restored the political rights of those linked with the communist party by allowing them to vote and contest in the legislative elections.

However, jobs for released PKI members are hard to find and family members still face persecution. Dalan Lingga, who led the PKI subsection committee in Dairi regency, can only work as a farmer in his village in Tiga Linggga.

The 70-year-old was joined by his son, a university graduate from North Sumatra University, whose nomination as a village head three years ago was turned down by the regental administration because his family was associated with the PKI.

Another ex-prisoner, Aston Tumanggor, 75, said his son was recently rejected when he applied as a civil servant once it was known that he came from a family associated with the PKI.

"None of my children can work in government offices. This is not fair. What makes us so different with the Free Aceh Movement rebels who are granted freedom and given money, while we can't even work in a government office," the father of eight said.