Genocide and Mass Atrocities in Asia

Legacies and Prevention

Deborah Mayersen, Annie Pohlman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781135047702
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: National Security
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The twentieth century has been labelled the 'century of genocide', and according to estimates, more than 250 million civilians were victims of genocide and mass atrocities during this period. This book provides one of the first regional perspectives on mass atrocities in Asia, by exploring the issue through two central themes.

Bringing together experts in genocide studies and area specialists, the book looks at the legacy of past genocides and mass atrocities, with case studies on East Timor, Cambodia and Indonesia. It explores the enduring legacies of trauma and societal divisions, the complex and continuing impacts of past mass violence, and the role of transitional justice in the aftermath of mass atrocities in Asia. Understanding these complex legacies is crucial for the region to build a future that acknowledges the past. The book goes on to consider the prospects and challenges for preventing future mass atrocities in Asia, and globally. It discusses both regional and global factors that may impact on preventing future mass atrocities in Asia, and highlights the value of a regional perspective in mass atrocity prevention.

Providing a detailed examination of genocide and mass atrocities through the themes of legacies and prevention, the book is an important contribution to Asian Studies and Security Studies.

Part I

The legacies of atrocities in Asia

1 An ongoing legacy of atrocity

Torture and the Indonesian state

Annie Pohlman

More than a decade after the end of the New Order regime (1966–98) in Indonesia, the promise of reform has fallen short for the regime's many victims of gross human rights abuses. The very few trials of serious offenders have been farcical, the reforms put in place to check the power of the military and police lack strength and political will, and attempts to set up a national truth and reconciliation commission have failed.¹ The continuing lack of redress for past serious violations has reinforced the entrenched culture of impunity in Indonesia, particularly for members of the security sector.

One of the clearest examples of this relationship between past impunity and continuing atrocities in Indonesia is the use of torture by state and co-opted agents. By examining the use of torture by the Indonesian state over the past 50 years, I highlight the cyclical relationship between ongoing impunity for past incidents of serious abuses, the institutionalization of this impunity in the security sector, and the urgent need for redress and reform. To do this, I begin by briefly charting the use of torture during some of the major cases of systemic and severe human rights abuse during the New Order. Next I outline the culture of impunity for past atrocities in Indonesia today, highlighting institutional-level cases of impunity for crimes against humanity and the lack of safeguards to investigate or prosecute cases of torture. Following this, I describe evidence of the continuing use of torture by state agents over the past decade, highlighting a recent case. I conclude by arguing for redress and reform aimed at removing torture as a tool of state policy in Indonesia.

The fall of the New Order and the promise of reform

On 21 May 1998, President Suharto announced his resignation, finally bringing to an end his authoritarian ‘New Order’ regime. The catalyst for this forced resignation was the Asian economic crisis of 1997–98, but it came after widespread internal dissatisfaction with the regime since at least the beginning of the 1990s. The New Order's blatant and extravagant nepotism and corruption had caused deep resentment amongst many Indonesians and had tarnished the president's and the regime's history of economic growth which had resulted in improved living standards for millions of Indonesians. Yet, aside from entrenched corruption, the price for the New Order's economic success was the depoliticization of civil society, the militarization of social and political life, a weak and corrupt judiciary, and an authoritarian regime willing to use repression and intermittent displays of state violence to retain power.

Ten years of Reformasi (the Reform movement, 1998-) was marked in 2008 and over the past few years many Indonesians and Indonesia observers have paused to take stock of the changes since the New Order. Dissatisfied with the progress of Reformasi, some have looked back at Suharto's long-lasting, repressive but stable rule with fond memories of years of economic growth and improved living conditions.² Conversely, others (particularly the regime's many victims) remember the New Order as the long, dark night of repression with recurrent threats of violence. Yet, despite the many and conflicting views over the changes since 1998, as one long-time observer, Greg Barton, remarked, ‘[o]nly a decade ago, the Indonesia of today would have represented the best-case scenario that few dared to believe possible. Certainly, no one could have predicted that in 2009 Southeast Asia would have one successful democratic nation marked by political openness, social stability and steady economy growth – and that that nation would be Indonesia’.³ Such praise, for many reasons, is well deserved. Looking back at Indonesia's post-colonial past, at the rise and fall of regimes and the violence that marked those regime changes, the reforms of the past decade have been impressive. Yet there have also been some failures which undermine the progress made and have the potential to impede future reforms.

The most serious failure of successive Reformasi governments since 1998 has been their inability and unwillingness to redress past grave abuses of human rights and to combat Indonesia's continuing culture of impunity. This culture of impunity has, and will continue to have, a seriously negative effect on building the rule of law and the democratization process in Indonesia. One of the clearest examples of this connection between impunity for past atrocities and continuing abuse is the use of torture by members of the Indonesian state's security forces.

Torture under the New Order (1965–98)

Hundreds of thousands of civilians experienced torture and ill-treatment at the hands of state and co-opted agents across Indonesia during the New Order. Men, women and children endured severe physical, mental and emotional forms of this violence as part of massacres, crimes against humanity, mass arrests and illegal detention, brutal crack-downs on protests, forced displacement and disappearances, and numerous other forms of state repression over the 33 years of the regime. Regarding the major, protracted cases of torture between 1965 and 1998, the two most significant in terms of harm to civilian populations are outlined here, namely the killings of 1965–66 and the occupation of East Timor. In the aftermath of an attempted coup on 1 October 1965, the Indonesian military embarked upon a brutal campaign against its mass-supported political rival, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). In the months that followed, it has been estimated that half a million ‘communist sympathizers’ were killed and over 1 million more were arrested and detained as political prisoners under the new military regime, General Suharto's New Order. The torture and ill-treatment of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of civilians following the 1965 coup represents the largest systematic abuse of this kind under the New Order.⁴ Between the end of 1965 and the early 1970s, victims of the anti-Leftist purges were rounded up and detained in often overcrowded and unsanitary prisons, detention camps and ad hoc interrogation centres across the country.

Ten years after the 1965–66 massacres, the New Order regime invaded and occupied East Timor. From December 1975 until the eventual withdrawal of Indonesian forces in late 1999, there were numerous reports of crimes against humanity against the civilian population, including torture and ill-treatment. As identified in its 2005 final report, Chega! (Enough!), the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation of East Timor (CAVR – Comissão de Acolhimento, Verdade e Reconciliação de Timor-Leste) found that torture and ill treatment were perpetrated against civilians throughout the period of Indonesian occupation, but that the rate of these forms of violence was highest during the large-scale military operations to wipe out East Timorese resistance, particularly between 1976 and 1984.⁵ The CAVR also found that young men involved in the armed struggle against the Indonesian occupation were most frequently made targets of torture and ill-treatment whilst in detention, but also that students, family members of resistance fighters and any real or suspected supporters of East Timorese independence were commonly victims of this violence.⁶

In other parts of Indonesia under the New Order – particularly the militarized zones of Aceh and Papua – there were also ongoing reports of torture and ill-treatment of civilians and members of resistance groups, such as the Free Aceh Movement (GAM – Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) and the Free Papua Organization (OPM – Organisasi Papua Merdeka).⁷ Described by Geoffrey Robinson as ‘daerah rawan’ (‘trouble spots’) for the New Order, the regime responded at different times to real and perceived threats to national sovereignty in these territories with brutal military violence, leading to the deaths of thousands.⁸ The security forces' use of terror tactics against the civilian populations in these and other areas was an integral part of the regime's ‘proclivity for a form of political control that produced and fed off the possibility and incitement of political violence to maintain its rule’.⁹ A central element of these terror tactics was the extensive use of torture and ill-treatment of suspected subversives and rebels, as well as their families and communities.

Impunity for past atrocities in a democratizing Indonesia

When Suharto stepped down in 1998, there was hope that these authoritarian means would die along with the regime. Instead, there has been an enduring resilience and persistence in the use of such terror tactics by the Indonesian military and police.¹⁰ The early, laudable reforms to assert civilian control over the security forces carried out in the beginning of the Reformasi period have not been consolidated.¹¹ The next stage of critical reforms necessary to exert democratic control over these large and essentially independent institutions have mostly fallen victim to Reformasi party politics.¹² The most serious impediment to strengthening civil control over the security forces and, in turn, respect for and protection of essential human rights in Indonesia is impunity for past grave human rights abuses. The continuing lack of accountability for these atrocities, among them a wide range of cases of grave human rights abuses committed before, during and after the New Order regime, has created a culture of impunity in Indonesia.¹³ The relationship between a culture of impunity and the degree to which this culture undermines efforts for building and entrenching the rule of law is clear. Undeniably, in the case of Indonesia, this culture of impunity is directly linked to the lack of accountability of the Indonesian military in particular, as well as the police and the various non-state militias that have been co-opted at different times by the military.¹⁴ As one observer, Suzannah Linton, put it, Indonesia ‘provides a textbook example of the direct link between impunity for atrocities going back over decades and perpetual cycles of violence’.¹⁵

In the first few years after the end of the New Order, an impressive range of reforms led to the growth of civil society, greater freedom of expression and political participation, free and fair elections for the first time since 1955, the removal of the armed forces from parliamentary positions and numerous other reforms that are evidence of Indonesia's attempts at democratization.¹⁶ When examining the reforms that have been made with regard to the level of protection for human rights and accountability for human rights violators, however, there is a ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Routledge Contemporary Asia Series
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I The legacies of atrocities in Asia
• Part II Preventing genocide and mass atrocities in Asia and globally
• Conclusion
• Index