Indonesian military revokes ban on communist descendants

Indonesia

The decision to forbid communists from serving in the army was taken after an alleged failed coup in 1965

Indonesia’s military has set aside a regulation barring those descended from members of the banned Indonesian Communist Party from serving in the army.

General Muhammad Andika Perkasa, the chief of the Indonesian army, said the regulation applied in the army selection process was “made up” and therefore must be repealed.

“We don’t need to make up rules. I am a person who obeys the laws and regulations. If we prohibit them [communists’ descendants], make sure it has a legal basis,” he said in a statement on March 31.

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Perkasa, a former Catholic who has been in office since November last year, said the ban imposed by the Indonesian government in 1965 only applied to the Indonesian Communist Party, communism, Marxism and Leninism, and asked his subordinates not to misinterpret and apply it to the descendants of communist party members.

The ban came into being after an alleged failed coup against Indonesia’s legitimate government in 1965, known as the September 30 Movement or G30S, in which several high-ranking military officers were killed.

Indonesians continue to debate who was the real mastermind behind the coup to this day, but back in 1965-66 it led to a massacre of suspected communists. The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) estimated anything between 500,000 and 3 million people were killed.

“I conveyed this news to my friends and the response was the same. They were generally very happy and it was like water in a desert mountain”

The victims of the tragedy and their families are still fighting for justice.

Bedjo Untung, 74, the founder of the 1965 Murder Victims Research Foundation, said the military’s move came like “a breath of fresh air” for them in the midst of a struggle to find the historical truth related to the massacre,

“I conveyed this news to my friends and the response was the same. They were generally very happy and it was like water in a desert mountain,” he exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Beka Ulung Haprasa, commissioner at Komnas HAM, said he fully supports the policy. “From the perspective of the victims and their families, a policy like this is like restoring their rights, especially the right to be free from stigma and discrimination,” he told UCA News.

He said it was time for all to come together and remove the stigma and discrimination that often traumatize and marginalize someone both socially and governmentally.

“The state must continue to move forward by providing equal opportunities to all eligible citizens regardless of their religious, ethnic, parental/hereditary or social backgrounds,” Hapsara, a Catholic, said.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Justice and Peace, said “it is an irrational and inhuman act if three generations of communists continue to bear the ‘hereditary sins’ and are treated unequally as citizens.”

“It’s time for this nation to make peace with its past history,” he added.

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