Let political exiles return home: Scholar

Let political exiles return home: Scholar

JAKARTA (JP): Vocal scholar Arief Budiman has called for the
government to allow the many overseas Indonesian political exiles
linked to the 1965 abortive Communist coup to return home.

His appeal comes on the heels of President Soeharto's decision
to grant clemency to three men once tied to the Indonesian
Communist Party (PKI) after nearly 30 years in prison.

Arief told journalists in Semarang, Central Java, yesterday
that the decision to allow those in exile to return, as with the
release of the three political prisoners here, should be based on
humanitarian grounds.

Three prominent political prisoners connected to the PKI --
former deputy prime minister Soebandrio, 81, Air Force vice
marshal Omar Dhani, 71, and police brigadier general S. Soetarto,
77, -- were given special remissions on Friday as part of
Indonesia's golden anniversary.

"If the President grants clemency to the three PKI figures,
then there is nothing wrong with the government respecting the
wishes of those who wish to die here," Arief said of the reported
desires of those in exile to spend their last days in Indonesia.

There are an estimated 300 to 400 Indonesians living as
political exiles abroad who allegedly had ties to PKI or were
afraid to return home due to their communist alliances following
the 1965 coup attempt.

Though there is no precise data, it is thought that some 200
reside in Holland and another 100 in Germany and France. There
are also some 70 Indonesian communist sympathizers thought to
still be in China.

Many have now become stateless citizens because they have
failed to report to an Indonesian embassy within a five year
period.

Arief noted that while many of them may not be actual
communists or PKI members, most were afraid to return home to the
tumultuous situation in 1965.

"Many of them were abroad at the time and because of one thing
or another they were fearful of returning," he argued.

Legislators and observers have in the past few days underlined
that the release of Soebandrio, Omar Dhani and Soetarto was
permissible because they were not actual PKI members but merely
"fellow travelers."

This point has been further accentuated by the fact that A.
Latief, an army officer directly involved in the coup, has not
been granted clemency, although he has also applied for it.

Among those exiles who have reportedly expressed a desire to
return home is A.M. Hanafi, who was Indonesia's ambassador to
Cuba in 1965 and is now living in Paris.

Other notable exiles living in Paris are Sobron Aidit, 61, and
Oemar Said.

Sobron is the younger brother of PKI chairman D.N. Aidit,
while Oemar was a journalist for a PKI oriented newspaper.

The other former Indonesian ambassadors also in exile are A.
Soekrisno, 75, former ambassador to Vietnam and Rumania, and
Djawoto, 89, former ambassador to Beijing from 1964-1966. Both
now live in Amsterdam.

Apart from allowing those in exile to return, Arief also urged
the government to release the many prisoners of conscience still
incarcerated throughout the country.

He said he understood the concern of certain sections of
society who still consider them a danger, but pointed out that
these prisoners are now old men.

There's no need to worry that the communist ideology will grow
again in Indonesia, he said, adding that if such a danger did
arise there was always the armed forces to repress such threats.

A member of the Muhammadiyah central board, Lukman Harun,
concurred that there was little to fear from people like
Soebandrio.

"They are old and because of that they can no longer keep up
with the developments in politics," Lukman remarked from
Semarang.

Nevertheless Lukman still strongly warned against the release
of those prisoners who have been identified as die-hard communist
or PKI supporters.

Lukman recounted that during a past visit to the Cipinang
prison he noticed that Soebandrio and Omar Dhani were keenly
involved in religious practices. Some notorious PKI figures such
as Sukatno, however, have maintained their allegiance to
communism by declaring themselves atheists.

Meanwhile the executive chairman of the Committee for the 50th
Independence Anniversary, Emil Salim, said in Jakarta yesterday
that more clemencies might be issued.

He did not reveal who or when they would be issued, saying
only that it was the complete prerogative of the president.

"Bapak President wants to bring us into an atmosphere of
unity," he said without elaborating.(har/mds)