Jakarta Globe, November 10, 2015
Todung Mulya Lubis, a prominent Indonesian lawyer and activist, is the chief prosecutor at the unofficial International People's Tribunal 1965 in The Hague. (Reuters Photo/Darren Whiteside) |
Jakarta. It
is not appropriate for an activists' tribunal on the 1965-66 anti-communist
violence in Indonesia to be organized in the Netherlands, Vice President Jusuf
Kalla said on Tuesday, after other senior government officials had already
dismissed the proceedings as irrelevant.
Asked how
he felt about the International People's Tribunal 1965, Kalla admitted that he
didn't know in detail what was going on in The Hague, but he stressed that
Indonesia itself had also in the past been affected by human rights abuses
committed by the Dutch.
The
Netherlands ruled Indonesia for centuries and fought a bloody war to retain the
colony after it declared independence in 1945, but the Dutch government has in
recent years tried to make amends, for instance by apologizing for war crimes
committed by its troops and paying damages to relatives of victims.
But Kalla
said that when it comes to human rights abuses, the Dutch are not in a position
to speak about Indonesia, proven by the fact that the government of the former
colonial power even paid for acts of cruelty committed here.
"So,
don't judge Indonesia," the vice president said at his office.
Netherlands-Indonesia
ties
Separately,
Hikmahanto Juwana, an international law professor from the University of
Indonesia (UI) who is not afraid of controversy, said the Netherlands should be
careful not to damage its good relationship with Indonesia.
"Even
though the results of this trial mean nothing in legal terms and the [Indonesian]
government can ignore them, they will spark controversy among the Indonesian
public," Hikmahanto said. "This will have an impact on the ties
between Indonesia and the Netherlands, which are currently good."
"The
Dutch government shouldn't use double standards," the professor added.
"When we're talking about atrocities committed by the Indonesian
government it is willing to allow an event [like IPT 1965] to take place, but
it's not ready [to do the same thing] when the [Dutch] state and its soldiers commit
acts of cruelty."
However,
other than the location of the event and the nationality of one among the panel of seven judges, Dutch involvement seems to be limited.
The
government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte would likely have little to gain from
such involvement, especially as it has in recent years tried hard to strengthen its relationship with Indonesia, including by boosting business ties.
No official
court
The tribunal
is being held from Wednesday till Friday in a former church in The Hague that
is currently in use as a concert hall and is not an initiative by the Dutch
government. In fact, no state has recognized the tribunal and its findings
cannot be enforced anywhere.
The
proceedings do follow those of a formal court -- with prosecutors and judges --
but it is a civil society initiative that, according to the IPT 1965's website,
"operates outside the mechanisms of government and formal institutions
like the United Nations."
The
prominent Indonesia lawyer and activist Todung Mulya Lubis acts as the chief
prosecutor. Other Indonesian activists and lawyers involved in the prosecution
are Agustinus Agung Wijaya, Sri Suparyati, Antarini Arna, Uli Parulian Sihombing
and Bahrain Makmun.
A statement
on the tribunal's website says it is an initiative of the International
People’s Tribunal 1965 Foundation, "which was set up in 2013 by a group of
victims in exile and in Indonesia, as well as by human rights activists, intellectuals,
artists, journalists and academics, and many other groups."
Valentina
Sagala, a commissioner at the Indonesian NGO Women’s Institute and a member of
the group behind the tribunal, stressed that it was not an attempt to indict
anyone on criminal charges.
She said
the tribunal’s outcome, expected to be presented next year at the United
Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, would not be legally binding, but would
instead serve as a “moral verdict” so that the Indonesian government could formulate
its own policies on addressing the massacres of half a century ago.
A difficult
discussion
Indonesia's
attorney general, H.M. Prasetyo also bristled at the fact that the tribunal was
taking place outside the country.
“These are
our own problems and we well solve them ourselves," Prasetyo was quoted as
saying by Kompas on Tuesday. "There’s no need for involvement from other
parties.”
Prasetyo
has however repeatedly refused to launch an inquiry into findings of gross
violations of human rights -- as detailed by the government's own National
Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) -- after a failed coup attempt that was
pinned on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
Key
military leaders where killed in the alleged coup attempt, sparking a wave of
violence against suspected communists across the country, which was supported
by Western powers like the United States and heralded the start of Suharto's
New Order regime.
Until
today, however, it remains difficult to discuss the events of 1965-66 in Indonesia
from the perspective of the victims and their relatives, or to question the
official version of what happened.
At least
500,000, but possibly and more than a million people were killed, and many
others were tortured, raped or sent to prison camps. The purges have always
been presented as necessary to prevent a communist takeover.
Indonesian
authorities recently threatened to close down a writers' festival in Bali if
the organizers allowed discussions on 1965 and its aftermath.
Reporting
by Novianti Setuningsih & Leonard A.L. Cahyoputra
Leila S.
Chudori speaking with historian Martijn Eickhoff, left, and Aboeprijadi
Santoso of
the International People’s Tribunal 1965, in The Hague. (Photo
courtesy of
Tong Tong Foundation)
|
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