Responding to the inclusion of the name of the second president of the Republic of Indonesia, Suharto, on the list of candidates for the title of national hero, Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said:
"The attempt to make Suharto a national hero is the greatest betrayal of the people's mandate since 1998. If this proposal is followed up, reformasi (the political reform process that began with Suharto's resignation in 1998) could potentially end at the hands of the Prabowo administration. Suharto fell due to public protests that gave birth to reformasi. Therefore, awarding Suharto the title of national hero could be seen as the end of reformasi itself.
The Ministry of Social Affairs' proposal clearly appears to be a systematic attempt to whitewash the sins of Suharto's authoritarian regime, which was rife with corruption, collusion, nepotism, and human rights violations. During his 32 years in power, Suharto ruled with authoritarianism through his New Order regime, which stifled freedom of expression, silenced the opposition and systematically normalised human rights violations.
Proposing Suharto as a national hero means ignoring the suffering of the victims and their families who to this day have still not received justice.
A number of gross human rights violations occurred under Suharto's rule. This included the 1965-66 mass killings, the mysterious shootings (Petrus) in 1982-85, the Tanjung Priok tragedy of 1984 and the Talangsari massacre in 1989, the violence in Aceh, East Timor and Papua, and the forced disappearance of activists leading up to Suharto's downfall in 1997-98.
The state has already acknowledged these events as gross human rights violations, both through a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree at the beginning of the reformasi era and an official statement by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in January 2023. To date however, none of the main actors, including Suharto, have been held accountable.
The government should prioritise the judicial and non-judicial resolution of past gross human rights violations, rather than rewarding the perpetrators responsible for those cases.
We condemn and reject the nomination of Suharto as a hero. The government must remove Suharto from the list of names proposed for the title of national hero. Suharto does not deserve to be on that list, let alone be given the title of hero. Stop this attempt to distort history."
Background
According to media reports, on October 21 Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf submitted a document containing a list of 40 names of national hero candidates to Culture Minister Fadli Zon, who is also the chairperson of the Titles, Service and Honorary Medals Board (GTK).
Among the 40 candidates for national hero status is Indonesia's second president, Suharto. The civil society coalition has strongly opposed Suharto's nomination, citing numerous human rights violations during his 32-year rule.
The list of nominations also includes several prominent figures such as murdered labour activist Marsinah, the fourth President of the Republic of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur, former Minister of Defence and Security Muhammad Jusuf, and former Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin. Several Islamic clerics are also on the list, including Bangkalan cleric Syaikhona Muhammad Kholil, former Nahdlatul Ulama's Central Board (PBNU) Supreme Leader KH Bisri Syansuri and KH Muhammad Yusuf Hasyim from Tebuireng, Jombang.
Fadli Zon explained that the 40 names submitted as candidates for national hero status also went through a hearing process with the GTK team. The list of 40 candidates will then be submitted to President Prabowo Subianto for further determination. The plan, continued Zon, is that the process of designating the national heroes will be completed before Heroes' Day on November 10.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Cabut nama Soeharto dari daftar calon Pahlawan Nasional".]
