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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Rebecca Root in Bangkok

‘Truth is one of our rights’: victims of Indonesia’s bloody past want more than regret from their president

Students in Jakarta, Indonesia, burning the headquarters of the Communist Youth Organisation in 1965
Students in Jakarta, Indonesia, burning the headquarters of the Communist Youth Organisation in 1965. Photograph: Carol Goldstein/Getty Images

Ita Nadia is an Indonesian activist who lost her uncle, aunt and a nephew in the mass killings of 1965-66. Her husband, Hersri Setiawan, an 86-year-old writer, was imprisoned without trial for more than a decade. Hearing loss and damaged lungs are the consequences of the hard labour and torture he was forced to endure.

On Wednesday, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, often referred to as Jokowi, acknowledged the communist purge alongside 11 other “gross human rights violations” that took place in the country between 1965 and 2003. Activists and those affected say they need more than an acknowledgment.

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