Amnesty International Indonesia urged President Joko Widodo to re-investigate the bloody anti-Communist massacres of 1965-66 after recently declassified documents in Britain exposed the extent of the UK’s role in one of the 20th century’s worst massacres century.

In a recent article titled “Revealed: How UK spies incited mass killer of Indonesia’s communists”, the Guardian The newspaper reported that “British officials secretly deployed black propaganda in the 1960s to urge prominent Indonesians to ‘eliminate’ ‘communist cancer’.

Citing recently declassified documents, the article says British propagandists secretly instigated anti-Communists, including army generals, to eliminate the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

It is estimated that at least 500,000 people – some estimates put at 3 million – linked to the PKI were eliminated between 1965 and 1966. The party is still banned in Indonesia.

These revelations prompted Amnesty International Indonesia to call for a new investigation into the killings.

“Such a revelation of British black propaganda shows that there are so many facts that remain available regarding the tragedy. This fact destroys the government’s argument that the tragedy cannot be re-investigated because it happened a long time ago and the evidence is no longer available, ”said Usman Hamid, executive director Amnesty, in a statement, a copy of which was received by UCA News on October 10. 19.

[He] must keep its promises and re-examine the tragedy of 1965 to ensure accountability and justice for all victims

“The facts revealed by the British media are very important for the Indonesian nation to know about its dark past. If the government has the political will to resolve the matter through, among other things, a process of reconciliation, then these facts can be a great contribution to Indonesia’s search for historical truth regarding the 1965 tragedy. -66.

So far, the government has failed to properly address gross human rights violations such as unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and rapes during the purge.

Hamid also reminded Widodo that during his presidential campaign in 2014, he promised to address historic human rights violations through the justice system to end impunity.

“[He] must keep its promises and re-examine the tragedy of 1965 to ensure accountability and justice for all victims, ”he said.

Thank you. You are now subscribed to the daily newsletter

According to Amnesty, a three-year investigation into human rights violations committed during the purge was conducted by the National Human Rights Commission and completed in July 2012. It concluded that the abuses were gross human rights violations which included crimes against humanity.

However, there is no indication that the government will launch a criminal investigation. Meanwhile, attempts to create a national truth commission have stalled due to a lack of political will, the human rights group said.

Speaking to UCA News, Bedjo Untung, victim of the anti-Communist purge and founder of the Murder Victims Research Foundation in 1965, supported Amnesty’s call, saying the new revelations needed to be investigated further.

“If President Widodo refuses to change his position in which he seems to blame all those who have been imprisoned [during the purge], that means he wants to protect criminals, ”he said.

Referring to the newspaper article, he urged the foreign countries involved in the massacres to apologize to the victims.

Support UCA News…

… .As we move into the final months of 2021, we ask readers like you to help us keep UCA News free.

For 40 years, UCA News has remained Asia’s most trusted and independent Catholic news and information service. Every week, we publish nearly 100 news exclusive and in-depth news reports, features, commentary, podcasts and video broadcasts, developed from a world view and the Church through discerning Catholic eyes.

Our journalistic standards are as high as those of the quality press; we are particularly focused on a rapidly growing part of the world – Asia – where in some countries the Church is growing faster than pastoral resources can meet – South Korea, Vietnam and India for n ‘to name just three.

And UCA News has the advantage of having in its ranks local reporters covering 23 countries in South, South-East and East Asia. We report the stories of the local people and their experiences in a way that the Western media simply does not have the resources to reach. And we report the dawning life of new Churches in ancient lands where being Catholic can sometimes be very dangerous.

With declining support from financial partners in Europe and the United States, we must appeal for support from those who benefit from our work.

Click here to find out how you can support UCA News. You can tell the difference for as little as US $ 5 …