The Victim Narrative of the 1965-1966 Massacre in Indonesia as A Biopicture (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Indonesian Massacres, 1965-1966: Image and Reality
It is now half a century since the mass killings of 1965-66 in Indonesia, and the multiple human rights abuses which persisted over the next decade and more. Attention has been revived towards what could for a long time be described as a "black hole of history". In Indonesia survivors and their families, human rights organizations, lawyers and academics have called for an end to the impunity which for so long has been enjoyed by the perpetrators. There are calls too for the government to act on the damning report on these events which was delivered to the Attorney-General in 2012 by the National Commission on Human Rights Komnas HAM. Two powerful films by the American film-makers Joshua Oppenheimer have attracted widespread attention in Indonesia (in spite of numerous attempts by right-wing groups to block their showing) and abroad. And in November 2015 an International People's Tribunal (IPT 1965) convened in The Hague to hear compelling evidence of the killings -- in which at least 400,000 civilians died -- and other human rights abuses. (I am a member of the panel of judges, which will deliver its findings later in 2016). It seems relevant therefore to post this paper which I wrote for Mark Levene & Penny Roberts, eds., The Massacre in History (1999) on a dark period of modern history which still remains to be fully explored and exposed.
2015
I would like to extend my warmest regards to all speakers and participants of this conference. Let us ask for God"s blessing upon this occasion so it can be an effective means to strengthen our role as researchers and writers. I do hope that the conference facilitates a fruitful sharing and exchange of ideas to respond one of the most difficult tragedies to understand, the 1965 coup in Indonesia. We might agree to what, how and why the coup happened but it is unbelievable to realize that part of the event was thousand innocent citizens killed in a massive massacre. It has left us a painful scar for the victims as well as created a series of serious problems to all related victims up to now. The anxiety, frustration and resentment are still around and felt deeply by the family members of the victims.
IKAT : The Indonesian Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
This paper considers the impact of various activities of artistic nature in public debate and collective memory of the genocide in Indonesia in the years 1965-1966, as well as the public reception of these event, with a particular focus on Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary „The Act of Killing” (2012). As a result of systematic extermination of PKI members and sympathizers, between 500 thousand and 2 million people were killed. These murders are often considered an ‘unspoken’ or ‘forgotten’ crime. In Suharto’s Indonesia, questioning the official version of events was prohibited. In 1998, General Suharto resigned from office and the state begun a slow drift towards democracy. The issue of the traumatic past, however, remains a very uncomfortable one. The crime of such scale cannot be easily forced into oblivion. The pressure faced by authorities in today's Indonesia was caused partly, if not mainly, by mnemonic actors of an artistic nature, by both Indonesian and foreign artists in...
Filling in the Gaps: Remembering the 1965 Killings in Indonesia
Kritika Kultura
After more than fifty years, Indonesia remains muted in its acknowledgement of the killings and disappearances of nearly one million suspected leftists in the anti-Communist pogroms of 1965. While the downfall of Indonesian strongman Suharto had opened up a larger space for democracy, the Indonesian state remains reticent in facing accusations of mass human rights violations that have taken place during his rule. Although many former dissidents and political detainees have come forward with their stories in an effort to "straighten history, " they continue to face harassment from right wing groups as well as the state's intelligence apparatus. Nevertheless, with the advent of the Internet, human rights activists as well as historical "revisionists" have begun to use the cyber sphere as way to fill in the "gaps" in terms of Indonesia's narrative concerning the killings of 1965. This paper investigates the dynamics behind the use of this medium in transmitting this dark episode to a younger generation of Indonesians. It looks specifically at Ingat 1965, a website that utilizes "private memory" as a way to "resist" as well as reinvent the narrative, which has so long been dominated by the state. This paper also includes an investigation into how Indonesia is beginning to deal with its past.
2020
In the early morning of October 1, 1965, six Indonesian generals were slain, their bodies later found in Lubang Buaya (Crocodile Pit). Shortly after, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was officially blamed for the murders and the supposed coup attempt, and General Suharto seized power. Over the proceeding months, a wave of violence emerged, and nearly one million Indonesians, including PKI members as well as those deemed disloyal to the state ideology Pancasila, were executed, and hundreds of thousands more were jailed or exiled. Throughout the next 31 years, Suharto’s New Order regime constructed a collective memory of the 1965 Tragedy which portrayed the PKI as the orchestrators of an attempted coup and as a threat to Pancasila. This narrative was reinforced by various lieux de mémoire (sites of memory), with perhaps the most notable example being the 1984 state-sponsored film Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (The Treason of the 30 September Movement). Recently, the documentary The Act o...
Terror Narrative: Representing State Violence in Modern Indonesian Literature
2021
Literature and society are a way of looking at problems in society. Literature not only functions as entertainment, but it may also represent socio-political problems. Some literary works even carry more roles as both a reflection of such issues and a means of protest against them, including human rights violations. This paper examines how Indonesian literature has reflected human rights breaches, such as oppression in Indonesia during the New Order era. This qualitative research was conducted through direct documentation. The research revealed that the regime punished any individuals, groups, or institutions which tried to challenge its policy by the name of national stability. Some writers, such as Putu Wijaya, used anecdotes to protest against such oppression. He was a prolific Indonesian writer whose works often expose socio-political issues, such as human rights violations in Indonesia. His writings suggest his disagreement with such abuses. The three short stories investigated here "Sket," "Mulut," and "Rakyat" represent Putu Wijaya's dissent with the violence performed by the apparatus of the regime. Playing his role as a literary activist, Putu uses these stories to remind rights perpetrators that such cases as seen in the stories have taken place and might take place somewhere in Indonesia.
Remembering the 1965 Killings in Indonesia
Kritika Kultura, 2019
After more than fifty years, Indonesia remains muted in its acknowledgement of the killings and disappearances of nearly one million suspected leftists in the anti-Communist pogroms of 1965. While the downfall of Indonesian strongman Suharto had opened up a larger space for democracy, the Indonesian state remains reticent in facing accusations of mass human rights violations that have taken place during his rule. Although many former dissidents and political detainees have come forward with their stories in an effort to "straighten history, " they continue to face harassment from right wing groups as well as the state's intelligence apparatus. Nevertheless, with the advent of the Internet, human rights activists as well as historical "revisionists" have begun to use the cyber sphere as way to fill in the "gaps" in terms of Indonesia's narrative concerning the killings of 1965. This paper investigates the dynamics behind the use of this medium in transmitting this dark episode to a younger generation of Indonesians. It looks specifically at Ingat 1965, a website that utilizes "private memory" as a way to "resist" as well as reinvent the narrative, which has so long been dominated by the state. This paper also includes an investigation into how Indonesia is beginning to deal with its past.
History, Memory, and the "1965 Incident" in Indonesia
Asian Survey, 2002
With the events of 1998 that climaxed in the stunning moment of President Suharto's resignation, Indonesia embarked on a transition from a tenacious authoritarianism. These changes have prompted reexamination of assumptions and tenets that have shaped the state, its laws and institutions, and the experience of being a citizen. They have also spurred calls for justice and retribution for persistent patterns of violence. Suharto's New Order is the only government that most Indonesians alive today have ever known, and its passing has sparked notable interest in reviewing and assessing earlier chapters in the national story. This retrospective moment has not been systematic, and there are indications that it may not be sustained under the administration of President Megawati Sukarnoputri. 1 Nonetheless, public discourse continues to spotlight key actors and events from the past, including some that have long been hidden, suppressed, or unmentionable. Among these topics, the killings of 1965-66 are a particularly difficult and dark subject. In this essay, I will discuss some of the recent representations of this particular element of the collective past and offer some thoughts on how "1965" figures in contemporary public discourse, in social and private