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)