According to an international panel of judges the mass killings that Indonesia committed during 1965 are crimes against humanity.
It is estimated that between 400,000 and 500,000 people died at the hands of military death squads, however given the official secrecy regarding the matter, the number could be even higher. Some estimates put the number as high as three million.
Back in 1965, there was an attempted coup which saw the murder of a number of military generals. The coup was blamed on communists and what came to happen was a brutal purge of all communists and those with communist associations.
Included in the killings were Chinese communities and those aligned with the left.
The tribunal, known as the International People’s Tribunal on the 1965 Crimes Against Humanity in Indonesia, was created by The Foundation IPT 1965 (International People’s Tribunal).
The foundation was established in 2014, consisting of Indonesian exiles, human rights activists and researchers. The tribunal was launched due to an “absence of an official domestic process of transitional justice based on truth finding.”
Over 20 witnesses gave evidence as part of the four day long tribunal, which took plague in the Hague, some of them using a screen to protect their identity.
The judges, presided over by Head Judge Zac Yacoob, former South African Constitutional Court Justice, listed a number of allegations including “forced labour that might well have amounted to enslavement” and imprisonment under inhuman conditions.
There was also evidence of systematic sexual violence, political persecution and the mysterious disappearance of thousands who opposed the Indonesian dictatorship.
Furthermore, the report found the US, UK and Australia complicit in these crimes against humanity. It is alleged that they knew of the killings taking place but continued to support the Indonesian military regardless.
Australia and the UK were found to have repeated false propaganda in order to manipulate international opinion so as to side with the Indonesian military. This was all in a bid to overthrow President Sukarno who accordingly gave up his powers.
All three declined invitations to take part in the investigation and have as of yet not responded.
The judges have recommended the Indonesian government apologise to the survivors and families victims and ensure compensation.
However, it appears an apology and compensation is unlikely as Luhit Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister, told press, “our country is a great nation. We acknowledge and we will resolve this problem in our way and through universal values.”
