President approves reopening of old communist files
President approves reopening of old communist files
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid gave the official
green light on Tuesday for the public to reopen the case of the
1965 abortive coup that led to the massacre of hundreds of
thousands of communists and their sympathizers.
"If the G30S case is reopened, that will be for the good of
the country," the President said, referring to the Indonesian
acronym for the September 30 Movement, the name for the attempted
coup launched against then president Sukarno.
The military blamed the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) for
the coup attempt.
In an interview with state-run TVRI, Gus Dur, as the President
is popularly known, welcomed the reopening of the case as part of
national reconciliation.
"Many people believe PKI was guilty, while many also regard
them as innocent. So let's determine the truth through the court
system," he said.
He added, however, that any move to reopen the case must come
from the public, not the government.
The government of president Soeharto, who succeeded Sukarno in
1966, admitted to the killing of communists but never provided an
estimate of the number of deaths. Foreign observers said at least
half a million people were killed in the carnage, which was
supported by the military.
Abdurrahman expressed his personal belief that many of the
victims were innocent, saying they were executed without a trial.
He said that in his previous role as chairman of the Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) Islamic organization, he had repeatedly apologized for
the role of NU members in the bloodshed.
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, however, dismissed suggestions
the G30S case be reopened, saying this was unnecessary because
the events had occurred a long time ago.
"We should look to the future. There are many human rights
violations, such as in Aceh and East Timor, that need
addressing," Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party,
said.
If the 1965 case is reopened, there will be demands for
investigations into other incidents that occurred in the past, he
said. "If we keep reopening old cases, we will never see the end
of it." (jun/prb)