Indonesia: Speak up after decades of silence

Indonesia: Speak up after decades of silence

Dear Tracy, Fifty years ago, Indonesia went through a terrible period. Possibly a million people were slaughtered after General Suharto, with U.S. support, deposed Indonesia's first president and established a military dictatorship. All of this was met with decades of silence and inaction from the Indonesian government. Please send a letter to Indonesian President Widodo urging him to bring those responsible to justice, and to pay compensation to the families of the victims. Likely opponents of the new regime were accused of being communists, and many suffered decades of extortion, stigmatization, and exploitation as forced labor by army officers and their business partners. Families were ripped apart, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers were brutally tortured and then killed. I know this personally: my brother Rami was stabbed, castrated and then drowned because he was suspected of supporting the Communist party. My country has still not had a real discussion about what happened in 1965 and 1966. No one has explained why our family members were killed, and no one has been held accountable. Indonesia became an enormous open-air prison for my family, and for millions of others. Trapped behind a wall of silence, we have been denied justice or any possibility of even coming to terms with our loss. Tell President Widodo: break the decades of silence—support the survivors and families of the 1965-66 massacres. There is a new Academy Award-nominated film by my friend Joshua Oppenheimer called The Look of Silence. It is being seen by audiences all around the world, and it is helping people like me—the survivors and family members—tell our stories. While my country now has a democratically elected president, the continuing silence regarding the 1965-66 mass killings is impairing our efforts to build justice and accountability in Indonesia today, as many of the people responsible for the killings hold influential positions, and our security forces continue to enjoy impunity for any abuses they commit. But now we have an opportunity to push President Widodo to act. Please take action. Help us fight for justice and accountability in Indonesia. Thank you. Adi Brother of a victim of the 1965-66 Indonesian massacres