Jakarta – Protesters from the Civil Society Coalition Against Impunity held a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Culture building in Jakarta on Thursday June 26 in which they rejected the discourse on awarding the title of national hero to the 2nd President of the Republic of Indonesia, Suharto, and criticised the government's project to rewrite history, which is expected to erase traces of human rights violations during the New Order era.
During the action, the coalition, which consists of a number of organisations such as Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Civil Society Movement to Bring Suharto to Justice (GEMAS), Free Women (Perempuan Mahardhika) and the Jakarta Street Library, held various activities ranging from speeches, reading history books together, theatrical performances and a submission of historical documents to the Ministry of Culture.
The criticism over the discourse on awarding the title of national hero to Suharto was also strengthened by criticism of a statement by Minister of Culture Fadli Zon who said that the mass raped during the May 1998 riots was just a rumour.
Kontras impunity monitoring division head Jane Rosalina said this kind of narrative is dangerous because it has the potential to cover up historical facts and hurt victims and their families.
"During his 32 year administration (Suharto) was so authoritarian, so repressive, and claimed many victims in the New Order era which until now have not yet been resolved by the state. We are here to educate those in power that history does not only come from the narrative of power, but also the voices of the victims which should be articulated", said Rosalina.
A similar view was conveyed by a representative of the Jakarta Street Library, Vero, who highlighted Zon's statement about history not belonging to human rights activists.
"Fadli Zon said that history does not belong to human rights activists, yes indeed it does not. But it belongs to all the Indonesian people, especially those who were victims and the families of victims in the tragedy of crimes against humanity", he said.
Vero emphasised that the history books they are displaying today are a form of resistance against attempts to erase history.
"Books are a symbol of resistance for those who want to mess up history, for those who want our history to only be considered good. When the Indonesian people dare to admit what happened in the past, then we can proudly walk together in this country. How can we as Indonesian people walk when the wounds of the past continue to be denied?", continued Vero.
Meanwhile, a representative from Perempuan Mahardhika expressed their opposition of the rewriting of history which is considered to erase the bitter realities of the past.
"We must speak out loudly about things that have been completely erased from history. Because if we don't speak out loudly, history will write things that are far removed from the facts", they said.
They also mentioned a report by the Joint Fact Finding Team (TGPF) which noted that there were around 800 victims of rape in May 1998, but this has not been acknowledged by state officials.
"We are here to berate Fadli Zon because he always talks nonsense about history, even denying and refuting the May 1998 rapes. In May 1998 there was a release from the TGPF that there were around 800 victims and this was not acknowledged [by Zon], he said it was a myth from the community. The problem is that it's not a matter of history belonging to activists, but the true history is as it is", they stressed.
The action was also enlivened by symbolic theatrical performances such as the burning of papers, stretching out threads to police officers who were on guard and displaying a sculpture of pig-headed humans as a form of criticism against historical manipulation.
In closing, a coalition representative submitted two historical archive documents to a representative of the Directorate of History at the Ministry of Culture, Agus. Agus said that the aspirations and input from the public would be forwarded to the leadership.
"Of course positive input is important to us at the Ministry of Culture. We accept these documents that have been submitted, for us to convey to the leadership. Meanwhile we'll accept the documents now", he said.
The Coalition hopes that the government will not perpetuate impunity by whitewashing the past which is full of rights violations and will not make history a means of political legitimacy. (kay/ugo)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Koalisi Gelar Aksi di Kemenbud, Kritik Keras Penulisan Sejarah Ulang".]
