Jakarta, IO – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) met with 1965 political exiles in Czech Republic. The meeting was facilitated by the Indonesian Embassy in Prague, reported IDN Times, Monday (3/4).
They looked healthy and happy to be visited by the government representatives. During the meeting, Komnas HAM pledges that it will do anything in its power to ensure that the 1965 massacre — the abortive coup blamed on the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) — would not happen again in the future.
Komnas HAM also conveyed two legal instruments that had been issued and were considered proof of the Indonesian government’s serious commitment in resolving gross human rights violations in the past.
These two instruments are Presidential Decree 17/2022 on the establishment of the Nonjudicial Resolution Team for Past Serious Human Rights Violations (PPHAM ) and Presidential Instruction 2/2023 on the implementation of PPHAM team’s recommendations.
At present in the meeting were Rony and Ubes, the 1965 chairman and secretary of the Czech Indonesian Student Association (PPI). They recounted the Indonesian government revoked the passports of 15 members of the PPI and they tried their best to find solutions to the matter.
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Thanks to the help of their respective schools, the students finally got scholarships, dormitories and stipend. Other assistance also came from the International Red Cross.
Agung Tjokorda, a former student with a degree in metallurgy, also shared his experience. He only had citizenship documents approved in 1992. Nevertheless, Tjokorda and the other political exiles said they have always loved the motherland. (un)