By: Ahmad Zoelfa *)
Jakarta, CIDISS – Indonesian government together with the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) held a national symposium entitled “Dissecting the Tragedy of 1965 from Historical Aspects”. Symposium which was held on April 18 to 19 is instantly inviting mixed reactions. Many people appreciate the symposium as a concrete action from government related to looking for resolution of the abuse of human rights in the past. On the other hand, there also a number of people who criticizing the symposium. These circles consider that the symposium is the government’s stance that “sluggish” against the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI). Among the critics of the symposium concerned, the government will be urged to apologize related to the 1965 tragedy in the symposium.
The Minister of Politics, Law, and Security Luhut Panjaitan dismissed the notion outright. Luhut stated that the implementation of the tragedy Symposium 1965 is a concrete step from the government to reconcile past cases of the abuse of human rights, one of which is the tragedy of 1965. Luhut also emphasized that the government will not apologize related to the tragedy of 1965. The government expects the output from Symposium of the Tragedy of 1965 is to prevent similar incidents happen again in the future.
Regardless from pros and cons, many people expect that the Symposium of the Tragedy of 1965 could be the final journey the event that full of debate during the fifty years. The government also looks serious in answering public expectations that exist, seen from the government’s efforts to maintain the symposium’s “objectivity”. All people, ranging from experts, perpetrators, witnesses, victims, and even observers presented at the symposium. They were invited to have dialogue and discussion to find common ground settlement for the tragedy of 1965. Thus, the output is expected to be totally objective so that it can serve as valuable input for the government in preventing the abuse of human rights in the future.
In addition, the Symposium of the Tragedy 1965 can also be used as “a means of proving” for the government of Indonesia to the international world, that the government of Indonesia has always been consistent in respecting human rights values. Thus, oblique accusations that have been directed to the government related to the reconciliation of human rights cases in the past, can be ignored. Implementation of the Symposium of the Tragedy of 1965 can also be used as a milestone for the Indonesian government in its efforts to reconcile the various cases of human rights in the country, which until now has not been completed.
Nevertheless, the government still needs to be careful if want to hold a similar symposium. Reconciliation is something quite crucial for Indonesia, given the history of Indonesian administration was marred by various issues of human rights violations. Thus, the symposium related to the reconciliation of human rights are very vulnerable to be exploited by the interest of particular groups and are contrasted with the ideals of the nation. Therefore, the whole society need to support the government’s intention in order to reconcile human rights violations in the past, while still overseeing that such reconciliation mounts free from any interest group. [AZ]
*) CIDISS Contributor
