8 September 2012

Pancasila Front & 127 anti-communist groups opposes any follow up on 1965 case


Pancasila Front opposes any follow up on 1965 rights commission report

Berita Satu - August 22, 2012

Wasekjen Golkar Minta Rekomendasi Kasus HAM 1965 Ditolak - Beritasatu. Rabu, 22 Agustus 2012

Ezra Sihite/Wisnu Cipto -- Mass organisations (Ormas) that are part of the Pancasila Front are ready to oppose any follow up on the recommendations by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) on the 1965 killings.


Golkar Party Deputy General Secretary Leo Nababan is urging for an end to calls for a restoration of the political rights of the victims and the families of the 1965 affair. According to Nababan, Komnas HAM's recommendation, which stated that gross human rights violations occurred during the affair, do not need to be taken to an ad hoc human rights court.

Nababan argues that the existing 1996 MPRS decree on communist teachings has not been revoked and this is a basis for anti-communism in Indonesia. He added that the mass organisations in the Pancasila Front are ready to oppose any follow up to Komnas HAM's recommendations.

"The Pancasila Front will be ready to block it, particularly [our] youth generation allies in Anshor NU [Anshor Youth Movement, Nahdlatul Ulama's youth wing] if for example the affair goes to court", said Nababan in an email sent to journalists today.

The chairperson of the Mutual Assistance Cooperative (Kosgoro, Golkar affiliated youth group) in the 1957 era stated that the victims and the families of the 1965/1966 affair who are linked with communists do not need to seek further redress. "It is enough that their political rights have been restored", asserted Nababan.

Komnas HAM's recommendations on the 1965 affair have indeed been controversial. Komnas HAM proposed several options that could be taken by the government, one of which is reconciliation by means of a presidential apology. One month after the recommendation however, the government is yet to take a position on the matter.

Notes:

1. Tap MPRS XXXV/1996: Provisional People's Consultative Assembly Decree Number XXXV/1996 on the Dissolution of the Indonesian Communist Party and Prohibitions on Marxist, Leninist and Communist Teachings.

2. Former PKI members and others accused of involvement in the alleged 1965 coup suffered decades of stigmatisation and discrimination. They were not allowed to become civil servants, military or police officers, teachers, preachers or legislators and their IDs were labelled with “ET” (ex-political prisoner). Following a Constitutional Court ruling in 2004 former PKI members were allowed to contest elections and in 2006 the government deleted the ET label on IDs.

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127 anti-communist groups ready to fight if 1965 case goes to court

Inilah.com - August 22, 2012

Kosgoro Tolak Usul Komnasham Terkait Keluarga PKI - Inilah.com. Rabu, 22 Agustus 2012

Agus Rahmat, Jakarta -- One of the Golkar Party's mass organisations, Kosgoro 1975 (Mutual Assistance Cooperative) is opposing the recommendation by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) that the government apologise to the families of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Kosgoro believes that such an apology would again give rise to horizontal conflicts.

This was conveyed by the chairperson of Kosgoro's 1957 central leadership board Leo Nababan. Nababan even emphasised that Kosgoro is ready to back GP Ansor (Ansor Youth Movement, the youth wing of the Islamic mass organisation Nahdlatul Ulama), which have said they will be on guard against such a move.

"The 127 anti-communist mass organisation supporters of Pancasila in 1965 that are part of the Pancasila Front are ready to block, particularly [our] youth generation allies in Ansor Nahdlatul Ulama if for example there are calls for the case to go to court. Once again don't go too far", said Nababan in a press release received by Inilah.com on Wednesday August 22.

Nababan, who is also the Deputy General Secretary of the Golkar Party, stated that the regulations on the PKI are still enshrined in a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree. This being the case, Komnas HAM cannot all of a sudden recommend that the Indonesian government apologies to the families of the PKI. "The TAP MPRS No. XXX/1996 on communist teachings has not been revoked", he said.

For Nababan, this is still a very sensitive issue. He is concerned that horizontal conflicts could erupt within society. According to Nababan, at present the lives of the families of former PKI members are quite good, particularly with the restoration of their political rights".

"And I don't want NKRI [the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia] to collapse and be full of blood again if a horizontal conflict occurs. Right now the lives of the PKI families are adequate. It is sufficient that their political rights have been restored", he asserted. (bay)

Notes:

1. Tap MPRS XXXV/1996: Provisional People's Consultative Assembly Decree Number XXXV/1996 on the Dissolution of the Indonesian Communist Party and Prohibitions on Marxist, Leninist and Communist Teachings.

2. Former PKI members and others accused of involvement in the alleged 1965 coup suffered decades of stigmatisation and discrimination. They were not allowed to become civil servants, military or police officers, teachers, preachers or legislators and their IDs were labelled with “ET” (ex-political prisoner). Following a Constitutional Court ruling in 2004 former PKI members were allowed to contest elections and in 2006 the government deleted the ET label on IDs.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

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