Policy against former communists questioned

Policy against former communists questioned

JAKARTA (JP): An expert on the Pancasila ideology yesterday appealed to the government to rethink its policy of discriminating against former communists.

Poedjo Moeljono said politically, the policy may be defensible but it is not necessarily so from a humanitarian point of view.

"The government may view that this policy must be continued for security reasons. But should this be continued forever?" asked the senior ideology propagator of BP-7, the government agency that advises on matters of Pancasila ideology, the Antara news agency reported.

Poedjo said Indonesia should rethink this policy, taking humanitarian factors into consideration.

He was specifically referring to the policy of stamping the letters ET which stands for eks Tapol (former political detainees) on the identity cards of thousands of people who were accused of involvement in the abortive coup attempt blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party in 1965.

Those whose identity cards carry the initials are required to report to the local police periodically. They are also denied some civic rights enjoyed by other citizens. For example, they cannot run government although they may vote. They are also barred from taking jobs in the civil service, the military or holding key positions in political organizations. Certain professions regarded as politically strategic, like teaching and journalism, are also off limits to them.

Some of these bans in practice also apply to their offspring and often to distant relatives.

Poedjo, who is BP-7 deputy for general affairs, said the policy should be reviewed, especially for those eks Tapol who were banished, without trial, to Buru Island in Maluku after they were rounded up in the aftermath of the botched coup attempt in 1965.

There is no "legal ground" to stamp their ID card with ET, particularly in view of the fact that the coup attempt happened nearly 30 years ago, he said.

Poedjo said he could understand the reason behind the recent request by the National Commission on Human Rights to review the policy of stamping the ID cars of eks Tapol.

He said that this did not mean that Indonesia should ease its vigilance against the dangers of a communist revival by the former detainees. "Physically, they may be old and weak, but they could still influence other people."

He said the young generation could also easily fall prey to communist teachings and influence. "That's why teachers of Pancasila must be able to convince their students that communism is inappropriate for Pancasila." (emb)