Abstract
This chapter examines the legal mechanisms for dealing with human rights abuses committed during 1965–1966, particularly those established under Reformasi since 1998. It analyzes the formal obligations of the Indonesian government as dictated by the provisions of Indonesian law and Indonesia’s ratification of international human rights instruments. Evanty and Pohlman assess some of the gaps between these new laws and their implementation, including the failed 2004 Truth and Reconciliation Legislation, the decision not to follow up the 2012 Report by the National Commission of Human Rights, and the latest drafts of the revised Truth and Reconciliation Commission Legislation. Across the five presidencies since Suharto, Evanty and Pohlman argue there has been diminishing support for legal measures for justice alongside persistent resistance to legal justice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aritonang, M. S. (2012, October 1). 1965 mass killings justified. The Jakarta Post.
Badan Pembinaan Hukum Nasional. (2015, March). Draft naskah akademik rancangan Undang-Undang tentang Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana (KUHP), Badan Pembinaan Hukum Nasional, Kementerian Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia Republik Indonesia. Retrieved from www.bphn.go.id/data/documents/naskah_akademik_tentang_kuhp_dengan_lampiran.pdf.
Ban on Communism still in force: Pramono. (2016, May 11). Tempo. Retrieved from http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/05/11/055769979/Ban-on-Communism-Still-in-Force-Pramono.
Birks, T. (2006, July). Neglected duty: Providing comprehensive reparations to the Indonesian “1965 victims” of state persecution. International Centre for Transitional Justice, Occasional Paper Series.
Braithwaite, J. (2011). Partial truth and reconciliation in the long durée. Contemporary Social Science, 6(1), 129–146.
Budiman, A. (2001). The trials of President Wahid. Southeast Asian Affairs, 145–158.
Burgess, P. (2012). De facto amnesty? The example of post-Soeharto Indonesia. In F. Less & L. A. Payne (Eds.), Amnesty in the age of human rights accountability: Comparative and international perspectives (pp. 263–291). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bush, R. (2009). Nahdlatul Ulama and the struggle for power within Islam and politics in Indonesia. Singapore: ISEAS Press.
Buyse, A. (2008). Lost and regained? Restitution as a remedy for human rights violations in the context of international law. Heidelberg Journal of International Law, 68, 129–153.
Crouch, M. (2012). Judicial review and religious freedom: The case of Indonesian Ahmadis. Sydney Law Review, 34, 545–572.
ELSAM (Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy). (2005). Background paper: Tinjauan umum terhadap rancangan Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana (KUHP) nasional. Jakarta: ELSAM. Retrieved from http://advokasi.elsam.or.id/assets/2015/09/2005_RKUHP_BP_Tinjauan-umum-thp-KUHP.pdf.
ELSAM (Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy). (2006, 9 December). Ketika prinsip kepastian hukum menghakimi konstitusionalitas penyelesaian pelanggaran HAM masa lalu (Briefing Paper). Jakarta: ELSAM.
ELSAM (Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy). (2015). Usulan peta jalan penyelesaian pelanggaran HAM masa lalu: pelembagaan dan rencana aksi kebijakan. Policy Brief, Seri Penyelesaian Pelanggaran HAM Masa Lalu. Jakarta: ELSAM, February. Retrieved from http://elsam.or.id/2015/02/usulan-peta-jalan-penyelesaian-pelanggaran-ham-masa-lalu-pelembagaan-dan-rencana-aksi-kebijakan/.
Farid, H. (2010). Censorship makes a comeback. Inside Indonesia, 99 (January–March). Retrieved from www.insideindonesia.org/censorship-makes-a-comeback.
Fealy, G., & McGregor, K. (2010). Nadhlatul Ulama and the killings of 1965–66: Religion, politics, and remembrance. Indonesia, 89, 37–60.
Gumilang, P. (2016, June 2). Rekomendasi symposium “Anti-PKI”: Lupakan masa lalu. CNN Indonesia. Retrieved from http://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20160602182958-20-135446/rekomendasi-simposium-anti-pki-lupakan-masa-lalu/.
Hamayotsu, K., & Nataatmadja, R. (2016). The people’s president’s rocky road and hazy outlooks in democratic consolidation. Asian Survey, 56(1), 129–137.
Herbert, J. (2008). The legal framework of human rights in Indonesia. In T. Lindsey (Ed.), Indonesia: Law and society (pp. 454–467). Sydney: The Federation Press.
Hernawan, P., & Walsh, P. (2015). Inconvenient truths: The fate of the Chega! and Per Memoriam Ad Spem reports on Timor-Leste. Jakarta: Asia Justice and Rights.
Heryanto, A. (2016, May 2). Massacre, memory and the wounds of 1965. New Mandala. Australian National University. Retrieved from http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2016/05/02/massace-memory-and-the-wounds-of-1965/.
Horne, C. M. (2014). Reconstructing ‘traditional’ justice from the outside in: Transitional justice in Aceh and East Timor. Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, 9(2), 17–32.
International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). (2006). ICTJ written submission: Legality of truth and reconciliation commission, amicus brief to the Indonesian Constitutional Court. Jakarta: International Center for Transitional Justice, July. Retrieved from https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Indonesia-Amicus-Brief-2006-English.pdf.
International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) & The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Justice (KontraS). (2011). Derailed: Transitional justice in Indonesia since the fall of Soeharto. Jakarta: ICTJ & KontraS. Retrieved from https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Kontras-Indonesia-Derailed-Report-2011-English_0.pdf.
Kasim, I., & Terre, E. R. (Eds.). (2003). Kebenaran versus keadilan, pertanggungjawaban HAM di masa lalu. Jakarta: ELSAM.
Katjasungkana, N., & Wieringa, S. E. (2015). Stop impunity now. Inside Indonesia, 122. Retrieved from www.insideindonesia.org/stop-impunity-now/.
Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia (Komnas HAM). (2012). Pernyataan Komnas HAM tentang hasil penyelidikan pelanggaran HAM yang berat peristiwa 1965–1966 [Statement by Komnas HAM on the results of the investigation into serious human rights violations during the 1965–1966 event], Executive Summary. Komnas HAM, 23 July. Retrieved from www.komnasham.go.id/sites/default/files/dok-publikasi/EKSEKUTIF_SUMMARY_PERISTIWA_1965.pdf.
Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia (Komnas HAM). (2014). Pokok-pokok pikiran Komnas HAM tentang RUU Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana. Komnas HAM, 27 January. Retrieved from www.komnasham.go.id/sites/default/files/dokumen/Pokok_Pikiran_Komnas_HAM_ttg_KUHP.pdf.
Kwok, Y. (2016, April 19). There were no apologies at Indonesia’s first hearing into the savage killings of 1965. Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/4298769/indonesia-national-symposium-1965-killings/.
Lopulalan, H. (2014, May 21). “Nawa Cita”, 9 agenda prioritas Jokowi-JK. Kompas. Retrieved from http://national.kompas.com/read/2014/05/21/0754454/.Nawa.Cita.9.Agenda.Prioritas.Jokowi-JK.
Lubis, T. M. (2014). Abolition of the death penalty: Indonesia at a crossroads. In L. Scherdin (Ed.), Capital punishment: A hazard to a sustainable criminal justice system? (pp. 251–271). Surrey: Ashgate.
Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia (Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia). (2006). Putusan nomor 006/PUU-IV/2006 [Decision number 006/PUU-IV/2006], December 7. Retrieved from www.mahkamahkonstitusi.go.id/public/content/persidangan/putusan/putusan_sidang_Putusan006PUUIV2006ttgKKRtgl07122006.pdf.
McGregor, K., & Purdey, J. (2016, April 26). Indonesia takes a small but critical step towards reconciliation. Indonesia at Melbourne, April 26. Retreived from http://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/indonesia-takes-a-small-but-critical-step-toward-reconciliation/.
Nowark, M. (2012). What’s in a name? The prohibitions on torture and ill treatment today. In C. Gearty & C. Douzinas (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to human rights law (pp. 307–328). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oppenheimer, J., & Anonymous (dir.). (2012). The Act of Killing. Denmark, Final Cut for Real ApS, 159 min. version.
Oppenheimer, J., & Anonymous (dir.). (2014). The Look of Silence. Denmark, Final Cut for Real ApS, 103 min. version.
Orentlicher, D. F. (1988). Human rights in Indonesia and East Timor: An Asia WATCH report. New York: Asia Watch.
Pohlman, A. (2013). An ongoing legacy of atrocity: Torture and the Indonesian state. In D. Mayersen & A. Pohlman (Eds.), Genocide and mass atrocities in Asia: Legacies and prevention (pp. 35–52). New York: Routledge.
Pohlman, A. (2016). A year of truth and the possibilities for reconciliation in Indonesia. Genocide Studies and Prevention, 9(4), 60–78.
Prakoso, R., Sihite, E., Marhaenjati, B., & Novialita, F. (2012, November 10). AGO rejects Komnas HAM report on 1965 massacres. The Jakarta Globe. Retrieved from http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu/come/archive/ago-rejects-komnas-ham-report-on-1965-massacres/.
Prasetyo, D. A. (2006). Indonesia’s truth and reconciliation commission as a mechanism for dealing with gross violations of human rights. LLM thesis, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Priyandita, G. (2016, June 14). Behind Indonesia’s red scare. The Diplomat. Retrieved from http://thediplomat.com/2016/06/behind-indonesias-red-scare/.
Puspitadewi, R. (2007). Kedudukan dan status hukum Ketetapan MPRS dan Ketetapan MPR RI setelah perubahan Undang-Undang Dasar Republik Indonesian tahun 1945. Jurnal Hukum Pro Justitia, 25(4), 352–360.
Republic of Indonesia. (2004). Undang-Undang tentang Komisi Kebenaran dan Rekonsiliasi [Law Concerning the Truth and Reconciliation Commission]. Law No. 27, State Gazette No. 114, 2004, Supplement State Gazette No. 4425.
Roosa, J. (2006). Pretext for mass murder: The September 30th Movement and Suharto’s coup d’état in Indonesia. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Samendawai, A. H. (2016). Hak-hak korban pelanggaran HAM yang berat: tinjauan hukum internasional dan nasional. Jurnal Hukum Ius Quia Iustum, 16(2), 253–267.
Setiawan, K. (2016). The politics of compromise. Inside Indonesia, 123 (January–March). Retrieved from www.insideindonesia.org/the-politics-of-compromise-2.
Shelton, D. (2007). The right to reparations for acts of torture: What right, what remedies? Torture, 17(2), 96–116.
Sherlock, S. (2003). Struggling for change: The Indonesian parliament in an era of Reformasi. A report on the structure and operation of the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DRP). Centre for Democratic Institutions, January. Retrieved from http://archives.cap.anu.edu.au/cdi_anu_edu_au/CDIwebsite_1998-2004/indonesia/indonesia_downloads/DPRResearchReport_S.Sherlock.pdf.
Simposium nasional “anti-PKI” hasilkan sembilan rekomendasi. (2016, June 3). Salam Online. Retrieved from www.salam-online.com/2016/06/simposium-nasional-anti-pki-hasilkan-sembilan-rekomendasi.html.
Soloway, H. (2016, April 29). After 50 years of denial, Indonesia takes shaking steps toward historical reckoning. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/04/29/after-50-years-of-denial-Indonesia-takes-shaky-steps-toward-historical-reckoning/.
Southwood, J., & Flanagan, P. (1983). Indonesia: Law, propaganda and terror. London: Zed Books.
Suh, J. (2016). The Suharto case. Asian Journal of Social Science, 44, 214–245.
Sulistiyanto, P. (2007). Politics of justice and reconciliation in post-Suharto Indonesia. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 37(1), 73–94.
Sulistiyanto, P., & Setyasiswanto, S. (2016). Still seeking truth and reconciliation for the 1965 victims: Is it possible? In P. Tolliday, M. Parne, & D.-C. Kim (Eds.), Asia-Pacific between conflict and reconciliation (pp. 69–86). Göttingen: Vanderboeck & Ruprecht.
Tan, P. J. (2002). Anti-party reaction in Indonesia: Causes and implications. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 24(3), 484–508.
Tapol. (2005). Tanjung Priok acquittals a travesty of justice. Tapol Press Release, July 14. Retrieved from http://tapol.gn.apc.org/press/files/pr050714.htm.
Teitel, R. (2003). Transitional justice genealogy. Harvard Human Rights Journal, 16, 69–94.
Teitel, R. (2008). Editorial note: Transitional justice globalized. International Journal of Transitional Justice, 2, 1–4.
Terhadap korban G30S/PKI Gus Dur: Sejak dulu sudah minta maaf. (2000, March 15). Kompas.
United Nations Commission on Human Rights. (2005). Updated set of principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity. UN Commission on Human Rights, E/CN.4/2005/102/Add. 1, 8 February.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2009). Dealing with the past: UNDP Indonesia supports multi-stakeholder consultations on the Draft National Law to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in Indonesia. United National Development Programme, Press Release, 22 December. Retrieved from http://www.undp.or.id/press/view.asp?FileID=20091222-1&lang=en.
van Boven, T. (2005, December 16). The United Nations basic principles and guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparation for victims of gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law. New York: UN Audiovisual Library of International Law. Retrieved from http://legal.un.or/avl/ha/ga_60-147/ga_60-147.html.
Wahyuningroem, S. L. (2013). Seducing for truth and justice: Civil society initiatives for the 1965 mass violence in Indonesia. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 32(3), 115–142.
Ziegenhain, P. (2008). The Indonesian parliament and democratization. Singapore: Institute of South East Asian Studies.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Evanty, N., Pohlman, A. (2018). After 1965: Legal Matters for Justice?. In: McGregor, K., Melvin, J., Pohlman, A. (eds) The Indonesian Genocide of 1965. Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71455-4_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71455-4_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71454-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71455-4
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)