Jakarta – The Indonesian Caucus for Academic Freedom (KIKA) has rejected the proposal to name Indonesia's second president Suharto a national hero.
According to the KIKA, the inclusion of Suharto among the 40 names proposed by the Ministry of Social Affairs to the Titles, Service and Honorary Medals (GTK) Board to be made national heroes is a betrayal of the spirit of reformasi – the political reform process that began with Suharto's resignation in 1998.
"The Indonesian Caucus for Academic Freedom expresses its firm rejection of the discourse on awarding the title of national hero to Suharto, the former President of the Republic of Indonesia, who ruled for more than three decades (1966-98)", KIKA said on its official website on Saturday November 1.
KIKA views the awarding of the title of national hero to Suharto as not only a form of betrayal of humanitarian and democratic values, but also a new wound for the victims of gross human rights violations that occurred during Suharto's New Order era.
The New Order government is considered to have left a poor legacy in the form of a culture of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), the silencing of press freedom and the weakening of democratic institutions.
"Under the Suharto regime, power was exercised through state violence, the suppression of freedom of thought, and systemic corruption", the KIKA said.
KIKA touched on several gross human rights violations that occurred during Suharto's reign, including the 1965-66 incident, the Mysterious Shootings or Petrus (1982-85), the Tanjung Priok incident (1984), the Talangsari incident (Lampung, 1989) and the designation of Aceh as a Military Operation Area (DOM, 1989-98).
Then the Rumoh Geudong and Pos Sattis (Aceh), the forced disappearance of activists (1997-98), the Trisakti Incident, the Semanggi I & II (1998-99) incidents, the May 1998 riots and the murder of shamans in East Java (1998-99).
Aside from human rights violations, the KIKA quoted Transparency International (2004) which named Suharto as the most corrupt leader in the world with an estimated embezzlement of public funds of US$15-35 billion.
Furthermore, the proposal to award Suharto the title of national hero also creates a deep moral contradiction.
This is because on the other hand, a female worker who became a symbol of the struggle for justice and freedom of association and was murdered by the state during the New Order era, Marsinah, has also been proposed as a national hero by the Ministry of Social Affairs.
"Making Suharto a hero while Marsinah is a victim of the repressive system he built is a form of historical irony and an insult to the struggle for humanity", KIKA asserted.
Moreover, in 2023, the state, through then president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, officially acknowledged the occurrence of 12 past gross human rights violations, most of which occurred during the New Order era under Suharto's rule.
"This fact confirms that Suharto was not a heroic figure, but rather a symbol of state violence that went against the values of justice and democracy that have been fought for since the 1998 reformasi", wrote the KIKA.
"The attempt to make Suharto a national hero is clearly the biggest betrayal of the people's mandate since 1998", they asserted.
Based on the above issues, KIKA conveyed a number of demands, namely:
- Firmly rejecting the discourse on giving the title of national hero to Suharto.
- Demanding that the state acknowledge and resolve past human rights violations, and provide justice to the victims.
- Emphasising the importance of historical memory and academic freedom to prevent the distortion and glorification of perpetrators of human rights violations. History education must reflect the truth and not whitewash past violations.
- Inviting the academic community and civil society to maintain the spirit of reformasi and reject the normalisation of authoritarian power.
"A nation that forgets the wounds of its history will lose its moral compass. Making Suharto a hero means erasing the traces of the state's crimes and dishonouring the memory of the victims", asserted the KIKA.
"KIKA stands with the victims, their families, and the entire community fighting for justice and academic freedom", they concluded. (ryn/end)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Kaukus Kebebasan Akademik Tolak Usulan Soeharto Pahlawan Nasional".]
