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Suharto must be brought to justice for his crimes against humanity

Tapol Statement - May 21, 2005

It is now seven years since General Suharto was forced to resign on 21 May 1998, following a wave of student demonstrations across the country, bringing to an end the bloodiest era in Indonesia's modern history.

Suharto seized power from President Sukarno in 1965 as up to a million people were slaughtered by forces acting under Suharto's orders, in what has been acknowledged as one of the worst massacres of the twentieth century. The wave of killings engulfed Communists or alleged Communists as whole families were annihilated. The Communist Party and numerous organisations alleged to be affiliated to it were banned for allegedly plotting a coup against the President.

To consolidate his power over the state, Parliament and the Consultative Assembly were purged and coerced into adopting a decree banning the teaching of Marxism-Leninism. This decree still remains in force.

Following the white terror against the left-wing, other parties were forced to merge and pledge allegiance to the regime. While general elections were held every five years, the outcome was a foregone conclusion and Suharto's tight grip on the state apparatus was never challenged.

One of his earliest moves was to establish a special command, Kopkamtib, or Command for the Restoration of Security and Order, of which he was commander. The Indonesian Army was granted unlimited powers to control security and to detain and arrest anyone deemed to be a threat to the regime. Two student movements were crushed in the 1970s and in 1984, hundreds of Muslims were killed in the harbour region of Tanjung Priok, following protests about the arrest of four custodians of a local mosque.

The Army was also used to conduct a reign of terror in Aceh and West Papua where sentiments against rule from Jakarta have long been very strong.

Under Suharto's command, hundreds of thousands of people were detained and held without charge or trial. Thousands were exiled to the island of Buru where many hundreds died of starvation or as a result of atrocities perpetrated by the troops in command of the prison island.

Since their release, these ex-prisoners have suffered continued discrimination, and are today still living with the stigma of alleged involvement in an event known as the G-30-S which occurred on 1 October 1965, about which they knew nothing.

While these men and women along with their offspring suffer discrimination, the man who was the cause of this tragedy enjoys impunity, living a charmed life surrounded by his corrupt family. Recently, when he spent a few days in hospital, politicians flocked to his bedside, to pay homage to the former dictator. There was not a murmur from these well-wishers about the sufferings he inflicted on so many innocent Indonesian men and women who were left to rot in prisons and concentration camps regardless of how old or sick they were. As one former political prisoner, Sobron Aidit, who spent years on Buru, said in Jakarta today: 'I won't forgive Suharto.

Millions died because of him. His sword is still bloody.'

Suharto was also responsible for the invasion and occupation of East Timor in 1975. During the course of the occupation, one third of the population died. The Indonesian army ruled the country with merciless disregard for the people and tens of thousands were driven from their homes and villages and held for years in prison.

Even today, seven years after his downfall, there have been no moves to bring him to justice, unlike dictators in other countries such as Rwanda, Cambodia, Chile or Iraq. The only controversy centres on whether he should be tried for corruption, which only trivialises the true crimes of which he is guilty.

It is high time for the man who committed so many crimes against humanity to be brought to trial to account for his deeds. It is an insult to the millions of Indonesians and East Timorese who have suffered as a result of the crimes perpetrated during the Suharto era to allow this man to live out the rest of his life in pace and tranquillity while his victims still continue to suffer.