President Joko Widodo reportedly acknowledged “grave human rights abuses” in his country’s past and deplored a dozen past incidents dating back more than 50 years.
These included the crackdown on communists in 1965-66, the shootings of protesters in 1982-85, the enforced disappearances in 1997-1998, and the Wamena incident in Papua in 2003.
“I very much regret that these violations have occurred,” he said on Wednesday.
“The President’s gesture is a step on the long road to justice for the victims and their families,” said Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. said journalists at a regular press conference in Geneva.
Historical outrage
An estimated half a million people were killed in the anti-Communist crackdown in the 1960s, and scores of reform protesters died in killings in the 1980s, she said.
The violence was unleashed after communists were accused of killing six generals in an attempted coup amid a power struggle between communists, the military and Islamist groups, news reports said.
Mr Widodo is reportedly the second Indonesian president to publicly acknowledge the bloodshed of the 1960s after the late Abdurrahman Wahid issued a public apology in 2000.
Go forward
The President’s statement came as a result of the findings of the out-of-court settlement team for past serious human rights violations he commissioned last year, fulfilling a 2014 election promise.
“We hope that the report will be published to stimulate discussion and debate,” said Ms Throssell.
Noting that the President’s statement “does not preclude further legal action and commits to reforms that should guarantee non-recurrence”, OHCHR also urged the authorities to build on the “concrete steps” taken to “advance a meaningful, inclusive and participatory transitional justice process”.
The OHCHR spokesman said this must include “ensuring truth, justice, reparation and non-recurrence for victims and affected communities, including victims of conflict-related sexual violence.”
She added that a full transitional justice process “will help break the decades-long cycle of impunity, advance national healing and strengthen Indonesian democracy.”
click here to watch the press conference in full.
