In this episode, we discuss the International People’s Tribunal and their verdict, published last week, that judged Indonesia guilty for crimes against humanity during the 1965 massacre. We give a brief history of what actually happened in 1965 in contrast to the Suharto-era New Order propaganda version. We unpacked what the IPT’s findings are in terms of the nine charges of crimes against humanity that they present against the State of Indonesia — which are murder, enslavement, imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance, hate propaganda, and complicity of other states.
In discussing the IPT verdict, we also highlighted how the genocide was a deliberate, methodical mass murder that fueled nationwide paranoia and implicated state officials, the Indonesian military, and ordinary Indonesian citizens. We address the often forgotten victims of 1965, Indonesian women — whether due to their involvement in political parties and/or as wives of political prisoners — and the lasting legacy of discrimination and propaganda against Communism and the family of victims. Lastly, we examined what exactly is the IPT and the uses and limitation of this verdict — and how we hope this will be a step towards the country admitting to what actually happened in 1965.
Thanks for listening!
Note — here are some additional stats that we didn’t get into in this episode:
- Political imprisonment numbers during this time was around 1 million.
- Discrimination against ex-political prisoners took the form of ET markings on Identity Cards, and children or family was officially not allowed to join the military, government or state universities.
- Employers often asked for letters from district leaders asking if prospective employers were ‘clear’ of ties to communism.
