Requiem for a Massacre

SPECIAL REPORT

ENGLISH

REQUIEM

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REQUIEM FOR 22 A MASSACRE THE massacre of PKI members following the tragic events of 1965 has come back to haunt us with the screening of The Act of Killing by US fi lmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer. The movie features the chilling confession of Anwar Congo, who took part in the mass killings almost 50 years ago. In this special report, Tempo looks back at that dark period—Indonesia’s own killing fi elds, the former concentration camps, and the grisly accounts of those who did the unthinkable.

Cover: Several PKI National Outreach members rounded up by 14 I soldiers in Central Java Forced to Jump Ship The Sacred Vow (1965). THE dysfunctional relations between the WHEN a marble mining company began drilling the Photo: National Library KPK anti-graft commission and the police are sacred hills of Nausus and Anjaf in South-Central Collection entering a new phase. The two institutions are Timor regency, NTT province, Mollo tribal communities now fi ghting over the status of 16 investigators reacted. Led by a woman, they fought to expel these who form the backbone of the KPK. Eleven from destroyers of nature. Tempo attended the Ningkam the police have been recalled to headquarters Haumeni annual festival last July and witnessed three and the others will follow. Can the KPK stay tribes give a sacred oath to fi ght all forms of mining, effective without adequate personnel? their duty to preserve and protect the environment.

Prelude Opinion Law Economy Science & Profi le Capital Events 10 Column 76 Law 56 Economy 62 Technology Interview 78 Cartoon 10 Opinion 11 Envirobriefs 75 Indicator 7 Sidelines 82 Letters 6

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TEMPO, OCTOBER 1-7, 2012

REQUIEM FOR A MASSACRE

ECONCILIATION cannot vanished from people’s minds, the apol- begin with a denial, but with ogy off ered by President Abdurrahman an admission. This is what we Wahid at the start of the reform era must Rneed to hear from the peo- be appreciated. As head of state and a se- ple responsible for the 1965 nior religious scholar in the Nahdlatul Ula- mass killings, and those who supported ma, Gus Dur, as he was known, openly ex- them. As in the phrase “truth and recon- pressed his regrets. It is a shame that 13 ciliation,” the order of the words shows years later, some NU ulama disapprove of the fi rst is a prerequisite for the second. such an apology. In fact, they have asked Forty-seven years have passed since President Yudhoyono to follow their ex- members of the Indonesian Communist ample. They took this stance after the Na- Party (PKI) and those accused of being af- tional Human Rights Commission pub- fi liated with them, were massacred. Rec- lished the results of its investigation into onciliation is still far from a reality. What the tragedy. The historical record shows have lasted are the denials from the kill- that the NU as an organization played an ers—and organizations such as the state active role in ‘cleansing’ Central and East security forces that supported the sadis- Java of the PKI. tic killings. That and the excuses that they Despite the rejections, moves to heal the were acting in self-defense, while warn- wounds of 1965 must continue. Establish- ing of communism’s “latent danger” at the ing ad hoc courts to try those responsible— same time. now aged or dead—will not be easy. The There is confusion over the precise number of victims. In De- reconciliation process, which will need new legislation, will proba- cember 1965, Sukarno established a fact-fi nding commission led by bly take time, but it should not be forgotten. State Minister Oei Tjoe to seek the truth. Because of its limited free- An apology from the government would be a short-term solu- dom of action, and fear of the army’s reaction, the commission con- tion. Regrets could be expressed in the form of appropriate com- cluded that 78,000 people had been killed—a number believed to pensation for the victims. We hope this move from the government be too low. The report from the Restoration of Security and Order would be emulated at the local level. After all, there have been Command mentioned a fi gure of around a million deaths. Accord- signs, albeit a few, of forgiveness. ing to the former commander of the Army Parachute Regiment, In Palu, Central Sulawesi, Major Rusdi Mastura offi cially and Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, around 3 million were killed. Liberal activ- openly apologized to former PKI members. He promised the fami- ists put the total at 2 million. lies of the victims free healthcare and scholarships. He also plans to To quote Roger Cribb, the left exaggerated the scale of the slaugh- build a monument on the site of a PKI forced labor camp. As a Mus- ter to highlight the wrongs of those responsible. For opponents of lim Advisory Council activist, he admits his organization was in- communism, the high number shows the danger of the PKI, while a volved in the movement to crush the PKI. low fi gure understates its crimes. These denials seem to begin with Aside from this, there is no reason for us to fear communism. The the statistics. ideology is long bankrupt. The Soviet Union is no more and China is Those wanting to learn the truth would do well to look at Joshua now as capitalist as the United States. The idea of a classless society Oppenheimer’s fi lm, The Act of Killing. Seven years in the making, is an obsolete and futile utopia. it contains the confessions of a petty criminal who killed hundreds Therefore there is no longer any need for a ban on spreading of PKI members in Madiun. His account reveals another motive of communist teachings such as Marxism and Leninism. The Provi- the killers: personal vengeance. As far as this thug, Anwar Congo, sional People’s Consultative Assembly decree on this should be re- was concerned, PKI members had to die because they had banned voked. There must be no more bans on books about 1965—or any- movies from the West—a type of capitalism that had provided An- thing else. What needs serious attention is the stigmatization of war, a ticket scalper, a source of income for many years. Several communism and its victims. The long-held belief that communism other killers came up with the same old excuse: they killed to save equals atheism is mistaken. In other words, there is no need to wor- the nation from the danger of communism. ry about communism, because as an ideology, it is really nothing In the climate of the New Order way of thinking, which had not special. ● FULL STORY PAGE 22

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 11 http://store.tempo.co SPECIAL REPORT 1965

22 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co { BURHAN ZAINUDDIN RUSJIMAN, 72 YEARS OLD }

http://store.tempo.co PKI members and sympathizers rounded up in Bali.

E was once a ticket scalp- iniscing and driving by places where they or judging them. Indonesian politics at that er hanging around movie had done some of their killing—among them time was extremely complex. Before the theaters in Medan. In the a stretch of road where his victims were eth- September tragedy, the confl ict between the documentary fi lm The Act nic Chinese residents. “When I came across PKI and other political parties had reached Hof Killing (Jagal), by Amer- a Chinese, I would immediately stab them,” boiling point. The PKI, feeling it had the up- ican director Joshua Op- he recalled. per hand, imposed various kinds of pres- penheimer, screened at the Toronto Festival The candid admission of this thug named sures on residents who remained ‘apoliti- Film last September, he openly admitted to Anwar Congo in this fi lm, which will like- cal’ or not on board with them. When the sit- slaughtering hundreds of members of the In- ly be shown by the National Human Rights uation was reversed, revenge and retaliation donesian Communist Party (PKI) in Medan Commission in Jakarta this October, is truly spun out of control. The killings were given from 1965-1966. mind-blowing. He thinks he is a hero, a sav- tacit approval by both communal and reli- Emulating characters he saw in American ior of the people. One report puts the num- gious leaders. gangster fi lms, he used a special technique, ber of people killed in the aftermath of 30 The period from 1965-1966 cannot be to prevent blood from spilling all over the September 1965, close to 1 million people, judged by today’s norms and values. In re- ground, when he cut the throats of those he mostly PKI members and sympathizers. viewing Indonesia’s darkest days, the rele- deemed guilty of being PKI people. And Anwar was only one of the execution- vant social, political and economic contexts He had a pleasant personality. He loved ers. There were many such ‘Anwars’ in other must be taken into consideration. dancing, bragging that he used to cha-cha parts of the country. There can be no doubt, Nevertheless, we understand the dilem- when he struck to kill, and was an ardent fan this is one serious case of gross human rights ma of this ‘information asymmetry’ out of fi lm stars Elvis Presley and James Dean. “I violation. of the 1965 tragedy. At that time, all news- relished killing those PKI people,” he said. In In this edition, Tempo attempts to see the papers were controlled by the military. The one scene, along with his fellow executioners events of 1965 from the perspective of the public was ‘indoctrinated’ by continuous in- in 1965, he was seen riding in a convertible killers who felt they were on a special mis- formation that communists were the enemy

down the streets of Medan. They were rem- sion. We have no intention of condemning of the state, identical with atheism. It was the REVIYANTO TEMPO/DHEMAS

24 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS

justifi cation the executioners needed to carry out with the victims or procedural matters, but with 1965 SPECIAL REPORT TEAM their killings. The military spread lists of PKI mem- the willingness of the killers to recognize that their Team Leader: bers who were to be eliminated. Later, the mili- deeds were wrong and evil. Often, however, their Seno Joko Suyono tary protected these executioners, even supply- minds still retain the indoctrination hammered Project Head: ing them with weapons. In some places, prison in- into them that their killings were justifi able. Kurniawan mates were released to hunt down ‘enemies of the A special note to our readers: our coverage was Coordinators: state.’ carried out with extreme care. We are aware that Dody Hidayat, Nurdin Kalim History tends to repeat itself, both here and else- profi ling executioners would be very sensitive. We Editors: where. In Israel, Adolph Eichmann, who was once remained true to journalistic procedures, verify- Arif Zulkifl i, Bina Bektiati, Budi in charge of a Nazi concentration camp, was tried ing stories told by the executioners we interviewed. Setyarso, Hermien Y. Kleden, Idrus for the massacre of hundreds of Jews. He felt no Through independent sources, we checked and re- F. Shahab, Leila S. Chudori, L.R. Baskoro, Nugroho Dewanto, Putu guilt for his actions, because he felt it was his na- checked to ensure they were indeed the perpetra- Setia, Qaris Tadjudin, Seno Joko tional duty. German philosopher Hannah Arendt, tors, or whether they were merely posturing. With- Suyono, Yosrizal Suriaji who followed the trial in 1963, wrote the famous out corroborating evidence, the person would be Writers: book, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report of the Banal- dropped from our list. Adek Media, Agung Sedayu, Agus ity of Evil. Arendt saw that executors like Eichmann We value the privacy of our sources. For those Supriyanto, Bagja Hidayat, Cheta were not schizophrenics or psychopaths, but ordi- who wished to remain anonymous, we have only Nilawati, Dian Yuliastuti, Dody nary citizens who felt their actions were proper, identifi ed them by their initials or provided them Hidayat, Dwi Arjanto, Dwi Wiyana, Iqbal Muhtarom, Jobpie Sugiharto, because it was justifi ed by the state. Arendt called with an alias. We honor requests not to have photo- Kurniawan, Nunuy Nurhayati, Nurdin this phenomenon acute shallowness. graphs published. Those appearing in this special Kalim, Philipus Parera, Purwani edition gave their full approval. Diyah Prabandari, Seno Joko Suyono, ● ● ● We have also visited concentration camps set Sunudyantoro, Wahyu Dhyatmika, Yudhono Yanuar IN tracking down the killing fi elds where PKI up by the military after 1965. In addition to the in- members were slain, we found that the massacres famous Buru Island, many suspected PKI mem- Contributors: Ananda Putri, Dian Yuliastuti, did not take place only in East Java, Central Java bers were held inside prisons at Plantungan, Cen- Iqbal Muhtarom, Nunuy Nurhayati, and Bali—places which have frequently been cit- tral Java, or in Moncongloe, Maros regency, South Prihandoko, Sundari (Jakarta), ed by researchers and the media. The killings also Sulawesi. These places—to borrow the words of Abdul Rahman (Makassar), took place, for instance, in Sika, Flores, and on an Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who was Ahmad Rafi q (Solo), Ahmad Fikri island off Palembang in Sumatra. We met only a once detained in a Russian concentration camp— (Bandung), Ayu Cipta (Tangerang), David Priyasidharta (Lumajang), few of the executioners, since many of them had were Indonesia’s gulags. Although those places are Fatkhurrohman Taufi q (Surabaya), passed away. Those remaining who live to tell the now used for something else, their sad history still Hari Tri Wasono (Kediri), Ika tale are mostly in their 70s. Incredibly, they re- hangs in the air. Ningtyas (Banyuwangi), Ishomuddin counted their hair-raising experiences openly, ar- Readers, no matter how tragic and painful, the (Magetan), Jumadi (Moncongloe), Kukuh S. Wibowo (Jombang), Mahbub mass murders of 1965-1966 must, at one time or the ticulately and seemingly with little feelings of guilt Djunaidy (Jember), Muhammad or remorse. other, be reexamined. Remembering, in the long Darlis (Palu), Parliza Hendrawan One of them explained that morality was rela- run, is better than forgetting. (Palembang), Pribadi Witjaksono tive. Killing is indeed forbidden, but that they did it What happened in Palu, Central Sulawesi, can (Yogyakarta), Sahrul (Takalar), to save people and their religion. Some have quiet- be taken as an example. The Solidarity Group for Sohirin (Semarang), Steph Tupeng Witin (Ende, Flores), Sujatmiko ly realized the error of their ways. Anwar, who ap- Victims of Human Rights Violations in Central Su- (Tuban), Soetana Monang Hasibuan pears brutal in the fi lm, admitted that from time to lawesi found more than 1,000 people killed during (Medan), Ukky Primartantyo (Solo), time, he would make a whispered oath, apologiz- the 1965-1966 period in that province. Not long ago, Yohanes Seo (Maumere, Flores) ing to the souls of victims. Rusdi Mastura, the mayor of Palu, publicly apolo- Researchers: According to fi lm director Oppenheimer, dur- gized to the families of the victims. He was 16 years Danni Muhadiansyah, Dina Andriani, ing the making of his fi lm, Anwar sometimes ap- old, a high school student, when the massacres Driyandono Adi, Soleh peared to have regretted his actions. His feelings of took place. As a member of the Boy Scouts, he was Photo Research: heroism and guilt seemed to come into confl ict. ordered by the local school principal to guard de- Jati Mahatmaji (Coordinator), Ijar Karim Elsewhere, another executioner had to be tention sites around the city for about two months. locked up by his family, because whenever he re- He was aff ected by what he witnessed. Rusdi and Photo Process: Agustyawan Pradito calls the killing, he would run out of the house, Palu government offi cials promised to provide free swinging a machete and a sickle. healthcare to the families of the victims, scholar- Language Editors: Iyan Bastian, Sapto Nugroho, ships for their children, and to erect a monument in In recalling this piece of history from the exe- Uu Suhardi cutioners’ perspective, we can glean yet anoth- what was once a PKI work camp. Design: er aspect of the complex events surrounding the Rusdi’s act of contrition is a good model for clo- Djunaedi (Coordinator), Aji Yuliarto, 30 September 1965 tragedy. As noted by Oppen- sure. Eko Punto Pambudi, Agus Darmawan heimer, the main problem in reconciliation is not ● Setiadi, Tri Watno Widodo

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FIELDS OF DEATH

The policy to eliminate members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and their sympathizers ignited a wave of killings that raged throughout Java and Bali, and later spread to other areas. Executioners emerged from nowhere, swinging their sickles, whether out of personal revenge, religion or a sense of duty to the state. They killed anyone labeled or suspected as a PKI member, disposing the bodies into ravines, rivers and caves. Did the executioners ever feel remorse or guilt over their horrifying actions?

A member of Balinese Marhain which is suspected of aiding the military in

NATIONAL LIBRARY COLLECTION LIBRARY NATIONAL rounding up PKI members in Bali, 1965.

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 27 http://store.tempo.co THE MILITARY, STUDENTS, AND THE KEDIRI TRAGEDY ISLAMIC BOARDING SCHOOLS, THE ANSOR YOUTH GROUP, AND THE MILITARY JOINTLY MASSACRED MEMBERS OF AND THOSE CONNECTED WITH THE PKI. THE ROOT OF THIS ENMITY BEGAN WITH EVENTS IN 1949.

ARRYING a short sword, big part in holding that formation. The night Abdul Malik led 100 Ansor before, Abdul saw some soldiers from the yout h s on fo ot f rom t he Ke d i r i district military command visit the home C city square toward Burengan of H Sopingi, an NU fi gure who lives in the subdistrict. Their objective: Setonogedong subdistrict, Kediri, which is the offi ce of the Indonesian Communist Par- where they held the meeting to discuss the ty (PKI), about 3 kilometers east of down- ready formation. Those soldiers from the town Kediri. Brandishing various bladed military command asked that the forma- weapons, they overran a dozen PKI admin- tion be held at once, because the PKI was istrators who were trying to defend their of- ready to attack Kediri. fi ce, while others escaped to the north of the Hermawan Sulistyo, author of the book village. “We burnt down that offi ce,” said Palu Arit di Ladang Tebu (The Sickle among this former commander of Ansor’s Platoon the Sugarcane Fields), said that the morning III in Kandat district, Kediri, recalling the formation was initially the request of com- est killing fi eld in East Java. There is no def- events of October 13, 1965. mander of the 16th Infantry Brigade, Colo- inite fi gure about the number of the mas- At his home last week, Abdul told Tem- nel Sam to the NU chairman in Kediri. This sacre victims at that time. However, since po that the events of that afternoon were request was also an explicit expression of the elimination operation began, the Bran- the start of his work to eradicate PKI mem- military support for the NU to take action. tas River had become a fl oating graveyard. bers in Kediri. Abdul’s group was not alone. In fact, Sam gave a Luger to the Ansor chair- Most of the time, headless bodies fl oated in There were dozens of other groups, consist- man in Kediri and trained him how to shoot the river, emitting a foul odor. No one want- ing of students from several Islamic board- at Mount Klotok, a small mountain, west of ed to catch fi sh or eat fi sh out of that largest ing schools and members of the Ansor and Kediri. In addition to being approved by the river in East Java. Banser (Ansor multipurpose unit), num- prominent NU kiai (religious teacher), the The largest number of PKI detainees bering in the tens of thousands. That day, formation was attended by fi gures outside in East Java were in Kediri. Based on data they were all scouring the land for pockets of the NU. The then regent and the com- from the Directorate of Social and Politi- of PKI followers in Kediri. mander of the Kediri Military District Com- cal Aff airs of East Java province in 1981, the Before moving out, the crowd took mand arrived and made some remarks. number of detainees connected with the part in a ready formation, held in the city That event was the beginning of the elim- PKI who were released and required to re- square. The formation was led by Syafi ’i Su- ination of PKI members and those believed port in, totaled 446,803 in East Java. Of laiman and H Toyip, two well-known Nah- to be sympathizers of the PKI in Kediri. these, 83,800 were from Kediri. dlatul Ulama (NU—the biggest Islamic or- Open, large-scale massacres took place ganization in Indonesia) leaders in Kediri. for several months in all areas of the town ● ● ● “They said that the PKI had stepped all over known for its tofu production. One well- SINCE that attack in Burengan subdis- Islam and wanted to eliminate Muslims used killing spot was the gisikan or along trict in mid-October, Abdul led the Ansor from Indonesia,” said Abdul. On this basis, the banks of the Brantas River, which runs of Kandat to eradicate the PKI for the next they gave strict instructions to those pres- through Kediri. The heads of the victims months. He said the action had the full sup- ent: eradicate the PKI. were cut off and thrown into the river. port and protection of the military. One According to Abdul, the military played a It is suspected that Kediri was the larg- time their group was overwhelmed when

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gional Military Command. The administrator of the Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School, Kiai Idris Marzuki, speak- ing to Tempo last September, said that at that time an offi cer from the Regional Mil- itary Command informed Kiai Makhrus that the PKI would attack Kediri on Octo- ber 15, 1965, and that the Lirboyo school was the main target. To better convince Kiai Makhrus, the offi cer showed him some holes like wells which had been dug in the sugarcane area around the Lirboyo school. He said that the PKI made those holes for the dead bodies of the students and kiai in Lirboyo, whom they planned to massacre. In short, Kiai Makhrus believed him, es- pecially since Kiai Makhrus was very close to the Regional Military Command (Ko- dam), even as far back as the time of the struggle for national independence. Kiai Makhrus mobilized the school to fi ght the colonizers. He was also a member of the Brawijaya Kyai-Kodam Forum, which was a communication vehicle between the Ko- dam and the Islamic boarding schools in East Java. “The pain of the Kodam is the pain of Kiai Makhrus,” said Kiai Idris, de- scribing how close Kiai Makhrus was with the Kodam back then. Kiai Makhrus, who is also the Suriah they faced PKI members in Batuaji village, chairman of the East Java NU, then instruct- Sumberejo Kandat cemetery, the Kediri. Because the PKI mass outnumbered ed the students to get ready. All of the adult massacre site of PKI members and them, Abdul asked for help from the dis- students were trained in Indonesian mar- sympathizers. trict military command. Soon after, a num- tial ar ts and instructed in powers of inv inci- ber of soldiers arrived with armored vehi- bility from the school’s administrators and cles to assist. fi ghters. The Lirboyo school was known for Furthermore, each night a military truck time when swinging a small sword, or even having many skilled martial art followers. came to Abdul’s house to hand over PKI a large machete, Abdul’s man was unable to Kiai Idris and Maksum Jauhari, who was members to be executed. “The TNI (Indo- wound the body of one PKI member. Final- better known as Gus Maksum, divided the nesian Military) captured them, while we ly one Ansor member suggested hitting him work. Kiai Idris was responsible for main- were the executioners,” he said. “It was with a rattan stalk engraved with the word taining security in the school and ensuring like the TNI nabok nyilih tangan (using the God or a supplication recited on it by a kiai. that the student study process was not dis- hands of others to punch).” This proved eff ective, and the PKI member turbed. Gus Maksum led the elimination of As they were taken off the truck, the collapsed before fi nally being hacked by PKI members. Large-scale mobilization of ‘shipment’ from the district military com- several people. students was done in Lirboyo. About half of mand was taken to the public graveyard the 2,000 or so boarding school students in Sumberejo village, near Abdul’s house, ● ● ● took part in killing PKI members. to be ‘schooled’—a term used at that time IN EARLY October 1965, religious stud- According to Zainal Abidin, a nephew to mean they would be killed. “Their num- ies at the Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School, of Gus Maksum, Gus Maksum often talk- bers varied. From 4-17 each night,” Abdul Kediri was suddenly disturbed. Kiai ed about his exploits in killing the PKI. Said recalled. Makhrus Aly, the administrator of that larg- Zainal, Gus Maksum never used a weap- None of the victims resisted at the time est boarding school in Kediri, said that a on. Working empty-handed, he was able to of their execution. Even so, sometimes it large PKI mass was about to attack Kediri. overcome every opponent. The son of Kiai was not easy to kill them. “Some of them Kiai Makhrus got this information on the Jauhari, the administrator of the Al-Jauhar

TEMPO/HARRY TRIWASONO TEMPO/HARRY had powers of invincibility,” he said. One planned PKI attack from the Brawijaya Re- Islamic Boarding School in Kanigoro, was

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 29 http://store.tempo.co known for having high powers of Tragedy—the fi rst time the PKI carried out invincibility. It was also due to his a major attack in Kediri. Although the re- fi ghting skills that Gus Maksum lationship between boarding school stu- was entrusted with commanding dents and the PKI had been tense, it had the operation. In addition to the never erupted in open confl ict. students, the Banser and the mar- Although nobody died in this incident, tial art followers in Kediri were the attack in Kanigoro was traumatic and an- under his command. “In addi- gered the boarding school crowd and mem- tion to the students, Gus Maksum bers of the Ansor in Kediri, most of whom called on the skilled martial prac- were boarding school students. At that time, ticioners from outside the board- the students had no feelings of revenge. But ing school to join in the eradica- the tension between the PKI and the stu- tion,” he said. dents remained, like a ticking time bomb. According to Kiai Idris, the mili- Kiai Idris said the enmity between the tary was indeed behind this trage- two groups had been going on long before dy. The Kodam even sent troops in the massacres. “When they met they would civilian clothing to Lirboyo. The eyeball each other and try to intimidate one military picked up and transport- another,” he said. The NU and PKI camps ed students in military trucks to also made shows of strength in their public send them to pockets of PKI mem- bers who were the targets of op- erations in all areas of the Kediri Residency. In the fi eld, the mili- ABDUL AND THE OTHER ANSOR MEMBERS FELT tary placed the students on the EVEN MORE CERTAIN THAT WHAT THEY DID WAS front lines and made them the ex- RIGHT. “LIKE POURING GAS ON A FIRE, WE GOT A ecutioners. Nevertheless, Kiai Makhrus SECOND WIND TO DESTROY THE PKI,” HE SAID. had his limits. He banned the stu- dents from killing PKI sympathiz- ers who lived around Lirboyo. The reason was that he did not want any blood- bers,” said Masdoeqi, who at that time was events. For instance, when there was a pa- shed to take place among students who lived on the training committee. rade to commemorate Independence Day around the school, many of whom at that He witnessed a PKI mob attack the home on August 17, the PKI and NU groups taunt- time were affi liated with the PKI. “So the of Kiai Jauhari, administrator of the Al-Jau- ed one another, involving sympathizers killing around the school was done by the har Islamic Boarding School and brother- from the two sides. Conditions worsened TNI,” said Kiai Idris. in-law to the administrator for the Lirboyo after the PKI attack in Kanigoro. Islamic Boarding School, Kiai Makhrus Aly. It was also this incident in Kanigoro ● ● ● The father of Gus Maksum was dragged which strengthened the resolve of the THE events of January 13, 1965, at the Al- from his home and kicked. boarding school people and Ansor mem- Jauhar Islamic Boarding School in Kanig- Afterwards, the PKI mob tied up and took bers in Kediri, including Abdul, to massa- oro village, are still fi rmly in the memory of 98 people, including Kiai Jauhari, to the cre PKI members. The massacres climaxed Masdoeqi Moeslim. On that day, at 4:30am, Kras police headquarters and turned them when the government announced that the he and 127 participants in mental train- over to the police. According to Masdoeqi, PKI was a banned organization. Abdul and ing were reading the Qur’an and getting along the way this group of PKI members the other Ansor members felt even more ready for the early morning prayer. Sud- insulted them and threatened to kill them. certain that what they did was right. “Like denly about 1,000 PKI members carrying They said they wanted to take revenge for pouring gas on a fi re, we got a second wind various bladed weapons attacked. Some of the deaths of PKI cadres in Madiun and to destroy the PKI,” he said. them entered the mosque, taking Qur’ans Jombang who were killed by NU members a Many PKI members died at Abdul’s hand, and putting them in sacks. “Then they were month earlier. At the end of 1964, murders so many that he lost count. In fact, Abdul’s thrown in the yard of the mosque and tram- of some PKI cadres did take place in Madi- brother who was a PKI member, was also pled on,” Masdoeqi told Tempo at his home un and Jombang. “The debt for Jombang killed. “He was killed by an associate be- in Ngadiluwih, in Kediri, last week. and Madiun will be paid here,” said Masdo- cause I didn’t have the heart to do it. De- The training participants gathered in eqi, imitating the shout of one PKI member spite being a brother, the ideology was front of the mosque. “I saw that weapons who was escorting him. non-negotiable and could not be compro- ● were affi xed to all of the committee mem- This incident is known as the Kanigoro mised.” TRIWASONO TEMPO/HARRY

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HAJI SY: “WE MADE MISTAKES...”

Haji SY still looks robust and fi t at the age of 74. A grandfather of 14, he hails from Probolinggo, East Java. He studied at the Lirboyo Islam- ic Boarding School in Kediri, travelling back and forth between Kediri and Probolinggo every month by train. He related his experience in taking part in killing local members of PKI in Probolinggo and Kediri to Tempo two weeks ago, at his home in the Grujugan district of Bondowoso. His memory was still clear, pro- viding concise and consistent responses to our questions.

● ● ● WAS 17 years old in 1965, in the second year of secondary school at the Lirboyo Islamic Boarding School in Kediri. Since 1964, I was Ihead of the Ansor Youth Movement (Ansor) sub-branch of the Pak- uniran district of Probolinggo. One day at Probolinggo I received a message from the Orari Headquar- ters of the Probolinggo Regional Military Command, from its command- er, Ali Muttakim. It was an order to coordinate with the Nahdlatul Ula- Ansor Youth Movement against the PKI in 1965. ma (NU) people, its affi liates the youth groups Banser and Ansor to nab PKI members. That night, 41 members of the Banser and GP Ansor, along with 10 soldiers and two police offi cers, boarded a truck borrowed from and large, with a thick moustache. He said, “What is this? Is this a joke?” a shop belonging to an ethnic Chinese, and headed for Kresek hamlet, 10 When Fadhol replied with a yes, he took out a short sword and slashed at kilometers southeast of Pakuniran. We took away seven PKI and BTI (a Fadhol, but missed. Then Gus Ghozi, another friend of mine, fought back farmers union) leaders. with a sword, but it didn’t do the job. It was a long fi ght. But no one knew what to do next when we reached the Glagah-Pakuni- I ran to the embankment near the river to take a cassava stalk about ran village hall. One person suggested the prisoners be hanged. The sol- three fi ngers wide and returned to the house. I recited the (Arabic) asmak diers didn’t want to shoot them. Finally, I off ered to kill them one by one, I learned from Kiai Munjahid. Then I hit the man from behind. He stag- by cutting their throats. One of the prisoners, Pak Astawar, was the last. gered, then I cut off his head with my samurai sword. He tried to dissuade us from killing him by off ering money. I refused, and After returning to the Ansor offi ce, I was doused with scented water. slit his throat. Wallahi wannabi (as God and the Prophet is my witness). Captain Hambali gave me a black plaid Manggis-brand sarong and a white Then residents dumped the bodies in a hole near Glagah River and cov- Santio-brand shirt. I was very happy with that, because I had soiled my ering it up with dirt. My assistant, Zaenab, turned to me with emotion, good shirt. After that, in Lirboyo I was known as ‘Sueb the Killer’ because “How were you able to do that?” I was surprised myself, that I was able to I had the courage to face up to the PKI people. The last one to be caught kill those PKI members with my bare hands. My friends and I then head- and killed was Albidin, head of the PKI central committee in Paiton ed to the Glagah Mosque. I doused myself with water, as my black shirt I took part in the operations because it was citizen’s duty. This was was covered in blood. I remember vividly that the shirt and pants had fardu ain (personal religious obligation), because if the PKI had won, Is- been given to me by Kiai (religious teacher) Munjahid, a teacher in Cire- lam would have been destroyed. Moreover, my parents and the kiai gave bon. their approval. If I’d been killed, I would die as a martyr. After succeeding At the Lirboyo pesantren (Islamic boarding school), I was told by Fad- in killing that PKI fi gure in Gurah, who was a master of Ponorogo martial hol Bustami, a friend from Madura, that Kiai Mahrus Ali, the school’s ad- arts, Gus Maksum appointed me as group leader, and I was given the task ministrator, was looking for me. I reported to him what we had just done, of giving out orders to stop the killings. including the killings. He replied, “Good. Tonight, go join the group at As a normal human being, I actually felt compassion for those PKI Gurah (in the east of Kediri).” members. During the operations, I always remembered the words of the After the evening prayer, I left with Fadhol Bustami and some youths late Kiai Mahrus and Kiai Marzuki, to keep in mind, verse 6 of the Al Huju- and headed to Gurah. The kiai gave us some black clothes. Arriving at the rat chapter (in the Qur’an). That was the rule-of-thumb. So we did not just Ansor offi ce at Gurah, I saw that many people had gathered, including sol- catch and kill anyone without a good reason. But we made mistakes. One diers. I was ordered to take 10 men to a large house 700 meters away. Ac- day, one of my men in Paiton caught Pak Sarati, a Qur’an reading teach- cording to information from ABRI (Indonesian Armed Forces, now TNI) er. I tried to stop him, but he was ganged up by others and killed. I believe members, the house belonged to a PKI leader from Ponorogo. I forget his that although he might have been a PKI member, he may not have been a ● NATIONAL LIBRARY COLLECTION LIBRARY NATIONAL name. We broke in, smashing the door. The owner appeared. He was tall serious one and could have been persuaded to leave the PKI.

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 31 http://store.tempo.co THE DAY GOD ‘DIED’ IN MLANCU PKI CADRES WERE MASSACRED AT THE JOMBANG-KEDIRI BORDER AREA. PENT-UP TENSIONS THAT HAD BUILT UP OVER FIVE YEARS ERUPTED ON THE EVE OF THE G-30-S MOVEMENT.

ASUKI’S memory took him ing PKI members. They wore black masks. tivities there because of three factors: they back to one afternoon in ear- No one came to collect the bodies. Be- could attract workers, sugarcane famers, and ly November 1965, to an inci- sides the families of PKI members, said Dasu- religious school students to join the party. D dent he will never forget for as ki, other residents of Mlancu were too terri- The massacre in Mlancu was also recorded long as he lives. In the dim twi- fi ed to leave their homes, especially after lis- in the book Palu Arit di Ladang Tebu (The Sick- light, Dasuki, then 8 years old, shuddered at tening to the strange noises all night long. The le among the Sugarcane Fields). Hermawan Su- the sight of hundreds of corpses, scattered bodies were eventually buried in the yard, listyo, who compiled the research for a dis- around the yard of Djamal Prawito, head of which today is only marked by two red and sertation at Arizona State University, record- Mlancu subdistrict, at the Kediri-Jombang white posts. In 1969, the land was dug up and ed the memory of RA, one Mlancu resident border in East Java. the bones removed to an old well in a nearby who took part in the killings. The fi gure of Fresh blood covered the 200-square-me- cacao plantation. 700 bodies comes from his testimony. “This ter yard. “If we had walked through it, the As Dasuki remembers it, the arrest of peo- operation was a bit unusual because it was blood would have been ankle-high,” said ple charged with being PKI members began done during the day, not during the night as Mlancu resident Dasuki, now 55. Two weeks in October 1965. Mlancu, a remote village sur- was the case,” said RA in the book. ago, he led Tempo to sites where alleged In- rounded by mountains, 21 kilometers from Hermawan, a researcher at the Indonesian donesian Communist Party (PKI) members Jombang in the direction of Malang, was late Institute of Sciences (LIPI), concluded that and sympathizers were executed, in the af- in getting the news of the murder of the six the events of the G-30-S triggered the bloody termath of the bloody 30 September 1965 army generals in Jakarta. After rioting broke confl ict that had been building up over the Movement (G-30-S). out in a number of cities in East Java, Mlancu previous fi ve years. Being PKI or not, he said, Dasuki remembers the sickle-shaped was gripped with fear. was just a label to give a reason to kill. “That knives, the swords and machetes, stacked This village is known to have been the site of is why my father, who was not a part of any- next to the lifeless bodies with lacerated the most brutal killings of PKI members. De- thing, was also killed,” Sakib, 49, told Tempo. throats. That afternoon Dasuki saw exhaust- spite its remote location, the area was regard- As it so happened, the government had ed executioners wearily returning to their ed as a strong PKI base. It was close to the Tjo- passed the Agrarian Law in 1960. A year be- homes after working for seven hours to cut ekir Sugar Factory, near the Tebuireng Islam- fore this legislation went into eff ect, PKI cad-

the throats of about 700 people accused of be- ic Boarding School. The PKI centered their ac- res were overseeing its implementation in vil- T E M P O / K U K U H S W I B O W O

32 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS JOMBANG

Tjoekir Sugar part of the mass movement was purely the Factory, biggest people’s own initiative. They reported to the PKI base in East local military, while some were angry after Java. being provoked by the military. “There were many cases of executioners killing because Mlancu well they were afraid of being killed,” he said. in Mlancu, The executioners worked on diff erent lev- Jombang. els. According to Hermawan, some coordi- nated the executioners, others worked at in- citing public sentiment, but still others pre- pared the list of suspected PKI members, who were to be killed, and determining the oper- ation times. Not surprisingly, the roundups and executions turned out to be very effi cient and calculated. As Farid Ma’ruf recalls, the executioners worked at night, surrounding the homes of PKI members. This was just like the operation to abduct the seven generals in the New Order propaganda fi lm G-30-S/PKI. Farid, who was lages, armed with ‘Land for the People’ cam- owners as ‘The Seven Village Devils’ who just 7 at the time, once joined a group of vil- paigns. Indeed, they sought land belonging needed to be hunted down and eliminated. lage youths surrounding the home of some- to the kiai (religious teachers) in addition to Confrontation, therefore, was unavoidable. one who ran the sugar factory. “My father led state-owned lands, to distribute to the poor. “Those who got in the way of land grabbing the executioners in Tjoekir,” he said. Many kiai, in addition to being popular com- were to be killed,” said Is, who requested ano- Farid wanted his father’s identity to be munity leaders, were also huge landowners. nymity. The 70-year-old male resident of Jom- kept secret, hence he is known simply as The implementation of the Agrarian Law bang and NU fi gure admitted to killing 100 RA. He said that in addition to killing, his fa- shook the provinces. “To the kiai and Islam- PKI members in one night. ther helped gather youths from the Ansor to ic boarding schools (pesantren), that law was News of the attempted coup on Septem- search for PKI members as far away as Blitar. detrimental,” said Hermawan. This is where ber 30, 1965 ignited resistance. According to To track them down, a truck would pick them the confl ict started to erupt. In addition to us- Is, the NU Youth Group (Banser) was special- up at home, and then take them somewhere. ing the slogan ‘Land for the People’ PKI cad- ly trained in self-defense, for such time when R A also gathered village youths to take part res cleverly lured followers by holding folk they confronted the PKI. They also later ab- in implicating neighbors suspected of being drama with conspicuous titles such as The Al- ducted PKI members and executed them. PKI followers. The execution sites were usual- mighty God hosts a Wedding. Hermawan recalled that a major roundup ly predetermined. If the location was not cer- This proved eff ective. Jombang and Kediri, of PKI in East Java began in mid-October 1965. tain, said Farid, “the military would draw PKI which was the center of the Nahdlatul Ulama Two weeks after the September 30 incident, members outside of their homes, then shoot (NU) organization in East Java, slowly ‘saw the demonstrations and the riots were still them then and there.” Their bodies were then red.’ Many NU followers who were taken by small and sporadic. “This was because the thrown inside caves. the promise of ‘equal distribution, equal military was not moving,” he said. The prob- This bloody confl ict, according to Is, took treatment’ according to the PKI, declared lem was that at that time many army offi cers place because of long-standing suspicions. their membership in the then largest com- and soldiers were affi liated with the PKI. Many factors brought the confl ict with the munist party in the world, after the Chinese The movement became more organized PKI to a head. When the NU held a milad an- Communist Party. after a major parade was held in Surabaya, niversary event in January 1966, Salahuddin These theatrical slogans and land-grab- on October 16, 1965. The Elimination Action Wahid, administrator of the Tebuireng Pesan- bing angered the ulama (religious leaders) Committee was formed. Its members were all tren, remembered the Ansor youths shout- and their followers. In addition to being blas- from religious groups: Nahdlatul Ulama, the ing, “Crush the PKI!” “At that time the PKI was phemous, the PKI upset them because they Indonesian Christian Party, Indonesian Is- wild,” said this grandson of NU founder Hasy- sought out land belonging to the kiai, despite lamic Union Party, and the Catholic Party. Af- im Asy’ari. having concealed their ownership. At that ter being repeatedly pressured for not meet- Salahuddin, who at that time was 24 years time, many kiai divided their land into small ing their demands, the military fi nally sealed old, said that he disagreed with the revenge- plots, which were given to relatives or en- off PKI offi ces in many places. It was then that taking by NU and Ansor. However, an Ansor dowed so that they would not fall under the the massacres began… commander criticized at his opinion: “You’ve new land reform regulations. Hermawan, who did his research in Jom- had it easy living in Jakarta. In Jombang there ● TEMPO/DIAN The PKI openly labeled the kiai and land bang at the end of the 1980s, concluded that are only two choices: kill or be killed.”

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 33 http://store.tempo.co AM: “WE NEVER BURIED THE BODIES...”

At the age of 70, this man sat erect, his gaze steady and sharp. He spoke emphatically. AM, as we will call him, was one of the men who took part in the tragic massacre of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members and sympathizers in Badas and Pare, two districts on the Jombang-Kediri border of East Java, from October to November 1965. Tempo met AM in diff erent locations in Jombang, on diff erent dates, last September. He reconstructed events when groups of exe- cutioners were sent to the homes of PKI activists and sympathizers, as well as those who were members of sub-organizations. “They were dropped here and there. I don’t remember how many bodies dropped, or how many there were altogether,” he said.

● ● ●

LTHOUGH I was only 23 years old in 1965, I was appointed administrator of the Ansor Youth Move- ment (youth group affi liated with the Nahdlatul Ula- A ma) sub-branch in Lamongan, East Java. One day, I received a letter assigning me to become a teacher at an Islamic boarding school in Jombang. In addition, I was asked to teach at an Islamic day school in the area. That was when the political events of September 30 broke out in Jakarta. Because communication was not as good as it is today, the news only reached us two or three days later. It ignited public anger. From my observation, this anger was spontaneous and not engineered. This was because, in general, they had long been re- pressing a hatred of the PKI. This accumulated anger, which was initially bottled up, seemingly found its outlet. Ansor gathered their rank and fi le. Tens of members of the Ban- ser (Ansor’s multipurpose unit), including myself, had gathered at a large fi eld in Mojoduwur village, Mojowarno district. This group was led by two kiai (religious teachers) who were well-respected, because they knew how to develop powers of invincibility and car- ried special amulets. First our physical condition was hardened. After this, our mental strength was improved, including being ‘fi lled’ with the powers of invincibility. On the fi nal day, we were all given rattan canes about as wide as a forefi nger, and about a me- ter long. Whoever held this rattan would have powers of invulner- ability. That night, from 7pm to 9 pm, we were doing religious studies as usual at the boarding school. Nearing midnight, 30 people who once took part in the training were asked to get ready. We had the ministrators of the local PKI central committees, especially the students change into all-black clothing. We all wrapped our heads chairmen and their secretaries. So in each village there were one in udheng, which looks like the clothing worn by the character Sa- or two people targeted. After getting ready, we would head for the kerah in the ludruk stories (an East Javanese folk drama). Psycho- major three-way intersection about 1 kilometer from the boarding logically, the all-black clothing made us feel braver. We also car- school (the main route between Jombang and Mojokerto). A pick- ried machetes or sickles. up truck awaited us there. We were given the list of people who were to be killed that night, We got in the truck to go to the target area. We were not allowed not knowing who made the list. Clearly the targets were top ad- to talk while in the truck. The truck’s lights were also turned

34 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS JOMBANG

Labor Day celebration by PKI members in East Java.

fate. Even though some were physically tall and large, they did not try to run away or resist. After intimidating them once, their men- tal condition usually ebbed. One or two of our targets possessed powers of invincibility. For instance, when hit in the neck with a machete, nothing happened. However, I knew the weakness of people like this. I knew how they had become immune to being hacked. For sure, after the victim fi - nally fell, we just left their body. We never buried the bodies. We left them for their family to take home. At that time, there was no feeling of sympathy, no feeling of horror. This was because my head was already fi lled with hatred for the PKI. That hatred had been with me since I was in Lamongan. At that time the infl uence of the PKI was getting stronger in the communi- ty. With the slogan “The Land Belongs to the People” and “Equal Land Distribution,” the PKI had promised that it would give a piece of land to each of its members. This propaganda proved to be eff ec- tive, as many NU members in districts in Lamongan rushed to join the PKI. Sugio district, for instance, was a PKI base, in addition to Sambeng, Tikung, and Laren. One day, PKI leader D.N. Aidit came to Lamongan. He gave a speech at the square in Lamongan, speaking in krama inggil (high) dialect of Javanese. Thousands attended, including myself. Aidit’s speech was pleasant to hear, smooth and calculated. It was very al- luring. The essence of Aidit’s speech was to call on PKI members and sympathizers, to fi ght together to bring about prosperity, es- pecially through a land reform program. District offi cials who were affi liated with the PKI would then en- act a policy banning anyone to own land outside of their place of residence. For instance, if Mr. A lived in Sugio, he could not own land in another district. This policy triggered arbitrary actions in many places. The PKI robbed people’s land at whim. Anyone who got in their way was killed. Some land owners were killed with bladed weapons or they were attacked by gangs. The PKI was getting increasingly aggressive with its provoca- tion. They even staged a folk play at a fi eld near a mosque. They were loud, disturbing the people who were worshipping there. They announced that the story to be performed was Gusti Allah off . I didn’t know the identity of the driver or the truck owner. Mantu (The Wedding of God). But this was just a trick to get crowds The streets we passed were dark. It was past midnight when we to be indoctrinated by their propaganda. I was curious so I went reached Badas and Pare (about 20 kilometers away). there. It turned out to be an ordinary story and had nothing to do The truck stopped. We got out and spread out, heading for the with the title. target. I knocked on the door of the person to be eliminated. Af- It was under these conditions that I came to hate the PKI. Today, ter confi rming that this was the target, we asked them to go to a the people who killed PKI members are being slapped with human deserted area, a plantation or edge of a river. The important thing rights issues. But they never did anything about the PKI’s cruelty ● JEMBER ARCHIVEJEMBER COLLECTION OFFICE was that it was deserted. They generally were resigned to their at that time.

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 35 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS BANYUWANGI

THE RAVINE OF TEARS IN BANYUWANGI, THE EXECUTIONERS TOOK TURNS KILLING THEIR PRISONERS. THE BODIES WERE FLUNG INTO THE RAVINE OF TEARS.

HE unit was called Gagak Hitam (Black Raven). It was not a part of T the military because its members came from the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) and their mass organizations in Banyuwangi, East Java. It was tasked with eliminating communists in the easternmost part of Java. It was named Gagak Hitam because its men were dressed in black; their shirts, pants and headbands. The unit was formed following the killing of 62 Ansor (NU-affi liated youth group) members at Cemethuk hamlet in Banyuwangi. Ansor youths, armed with scythes, samurai swords, kris and pointed bamboo poles, were on their way to fi ght Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) members, when they were waylaid at the village corner and locked up with PNI members. The incident, known as Lubang Buaya (Crocodile Hole), was later immortalized at the Cemethuk Pancasila Jaya Monument. affi liate organizations and homes of their Jurang Tangis, the place where bodies of We met with a former Gagak Hitam offi cials. Wielding daggers, Gagak Hitam murdered PKI members were thrown. member in Boyolangu, Giri district. Despite men slaughtered them and hurled their his 80 years, Baidawi, still looked sturdy. As corpses into rivers or ravines. The homes of a youth, he was quite a respected fi gure. He suspected communists were burnt down. once headed t he I ndonesia n Musl i m Cu lt u re “It was like doomsday,” he said. He himself was imprisoned by soldiers for and Art Institute (Lesbumi)—affi liated with Apart from civilians, soldiers also carried two years. Before being jailed, he was taken NU—in Boyolangu village. He was also feared out the mass killings. In fact, it was because to a detention camp in a fi eld in Kalibaru because reportedly he had killed countless the troops were so overwhelmed by the large district. During the 10 days he was detained PKI sympathizers during his youth. numbers of people to be killed, that part of in this camp, Andang witnessed thousands However, when he met Tempo at the the job was entrusted to several villages, of people detained like himself. “District end of last September, Baidawi refuted his including Boyolangu. Baidawi remembered chiefs, village heads, clerks, were all ordered reputation. “If anybody says I used to kill that his hamlet alone, at one time, was to gather in the camp,” said Andang. PKI members, just ignore it. It’s not true. I tasked with killing fi ve communists, four There, they were later selected according only witnessed the killings,” said Baidawi. men and a woman. to the types of punishment they were He had joined Gagak Hitam because he saw They were executed at night, in the meted out. The most severe was immediate communism as a threat to the nation. “Now middle of a fi eld that has now been turned execution, usually at night. Their dead I no longer remember it, and hope the PKI into a cemetery. The killing was attended by bodies were thrown into Jurang Tangis doesn’t emerge again in Indonesia,” he hundreds of residents, all holding daggers, (Ravine of Tears). The ravine, located in the added. including Baidawi himself. With their hands area of Baluran National Park, at the border The extermination of communists tied back, the condemned fi ve were slain by between Banyuwangi and Situbondo, is sympathizers was openly announced by a the crowd and buried in one hole. today the site of a mass grave containing the district employee. “Carrying a loudspeaker, The former secretary the Banyuwangi bodies of slain communists in Banyuwangi. he would tell the public that PKI members People’s Cultural Institute (Lekra), Andang Another can be found at the side of a ravine had to be eliminated,” he recalled. C h a t i f Yu s u f , s a i d t h e n u m b e r o f c o m m u n i s t s at Mount Kumitir, at the border between

The unit went to PKI headquarters, its killed was estimated to be in the thousands. Banyuwangi and Jember. ● TEMPO/IKANINGTYAS

36 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co TEMPO/ANDRY PRASETYO of Solo city, seemed to have been a favorite favorite a been have to seemed city, Solo of river, so they would drift away. the into bodies scattered shove the would River.Later, Solo men ofthe edge at the ofcorpses sight shecatch would house, the outof coming then, Only came. morning togooutwhen dared only Residents you “If member,” aPKI as sherecalled. accused doors. their ofbeing risk the you ran locked outside, lingered hurriedly bridge from a fi sounded abang When days. orthree two every place took members ofPKI killing river. the into dropped being of corpses sounds the ago, recalling weeks two Wiryo, river,” the into said falling objects like sounds were there “Then shots. hear would she Bridge, Bacem from meters 100 just (PKI). Party Communist Indonesian the with involved ofbeing sed accu- ofpeople slaying tothe witness silent a is Java, Central village, Telukan in bridge ago. The 47 years shewitnessed mething ofso- reminded was ver. The80-year-old M M SOLO RIVER. THE SWIFT-FLOWING DUMPED IN CORPSES COMMUNISTS, THEIR SUSPECTED IN SLAUGHTERING SOLDIERS JOINED CIVILIANS BORDER, SOLO-SUKOHARJO ON ABRIDGE AT THE TIDETHE BY TAKEN The bridge, 4 kilometers from the hub hub the from 4kilometers The bridge, the months, of six aspan in count, her By home her from 1965, September After rearm, people living around the ted in the middle of Solo Ri- ofSolo middle the in ted former bridge erec- being ofa piles the shesaw when BAH Wiryo, had goosefl Mbah Mbah esh on the side of the bridge. bloodstains remaining the toclean villagers nearby the ordered forces security killings, the after days several Bibit, to According ago. a year about whodied Paris, in exile Said, an Indonesian journalist living in posted on the personal website of Umar killing fi tothis apilgrimage made Order’s Victims New ofthe and Association he ofthe members when this all revealed He locations. fi akilling became also out, site, hepointed This bridge. onthe killed were prisoners the that others from heard by one.Healso one ofexecution, place tothe carried being detainees of144 atotal member, counted Military District Command as an alleged PKI Sudharmono. added clean,” again was river “The vanished. river the in slayings area was fl human fi human red. From time to time, the locals found turned River Solo the recalled, witnesses carnage, ofthe aresult As 1965. October the Bacem Bridge area occurred around said the killings of PKI sympathesizers in Surakarta, in University State Maret Sebelas of ahistorian Sudharmono, spot. execution other from executioners foreld other According to Supeno, coordinator of the ofthe coordinator toSupeno, According Solo atthe oncedetained whowas Bibit, eld in 2005. Bibit’s testimony was was Bibit’s testimony 2005. in eld ngers inside fi ngers inside ooded in 1966, all traces of the ofthe traces all 1966, in ooded sh bellies. After the the After sh bellies. 1965 EXECUTIONERS 1965 throwing fl the annual pilgrimage to Bacem Bridge, whosuff people with along ofsix, a father Supeno, victims, done stealthily at night. In memory always were Thekillings of Bridge. Bacem the on place taken had executions 71 at least being linkedmilitary to the in PKI. November He recalled 1965 Rozaq. Abdul said clerics,” NU kill on charges that to way ontheir tobe rumored was PKI the of Solo. “At entered time, had that time the at unit nomilitary because alert on the was schools) from the PKI threat and that Banser protecting with tasked only was Banser the claimed that the Banser had joined the slaughter. He denied Shofawi, Rozaq Abdul Haji teacher) ago. weeks two interviewed said, members,” he PKI shooting in part took also Banser the that heard “I organization. affi members (Banser), Youth were Brigade Ansor of the executioners Bridge Bacem the military, tothe addition in association, foundations. Bridge’s Bacem of remains The Islamic Ulama Nahdlatul with liated Supeno, now 82, was jailed by the bythe jailed was now82, Supeno, But an NU senior in Solo, Kiai http://store.tempo.co owers into the river. the into owers OCTOBER 7,2012| pesantren Former execution site. execution Former ered the same fate, make make fate, same the ered BENGAWAN SOLO (Islamic boarding ● (religious (religious |37

1965 EXECUTIONERS BENGAWAN SOLO

I was engaged in killing communists BURHAN ZAINUDDIN RUSJIMAN, 72: together with the soldiers. We civilians were asked to form human cordons. It was A LICENSE TO KILL the legal side. But as the community and Islamic groups also harbored a grudge, we also frequently moved on our own. In my capacity as fi rst staff er of the Aris WAS dubbed Burhan Kampak (axe), Campus executives then branded me Margono Ampera (Message of People’s because during the confl ict in 1965- a counterrevolutionary and against Suff ering) Troop of the Indonesian Student I 1966, I frequently carried an axe to the concept of Nasakom (nationalism, Action Front (KAMI), I had a license to chase people believed to be involved religion, communism) introduced by kill people who were proven involved in in communism. But I also used to execute President Sukarno. the PKI. Ten people were given FN pistols them with a pistol. My principle was that I Before the outbreak of the September and trained in Kaliurang. The pistols were would rather kill than be killed. 30 movement (G-30-S), in 1963-1964 CGMI provided around November 1965. Only My hatred of communism began as a was at large, terrorizing Islamic groups and student organization leaders got the guns student, when I joined the Islamic Students students. PKI supporters almost daily held and training. Association (HMI). I was convinced orations and demos in Malioboro and other I returned to the Kostrad head offi ce in that communists were the enemy of all strategic places. Unless proper care was Yogyakarta most often to secure bullets. religions. It was among others due to taken while in Malioboro, one could be a With the pistol, I launched operations the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) target of the actions. to fi nd PKI sympathizers and leaders in Conference edict in South Sumatra in mid- My hatred climaxed when I heard PKI Yogyakarta nearly every day, from end- 1962. MUI declared communism haram Central Committee Chairman D.N. Aidit 1965 to mid-1966. (prohibited) for being atheistic. From humiliate the HMI. At the Third Congress of My areas of operation went beyond then on I thought, Indonesian Communist CGMI on September 29, 1965, Aidit said, if Yogya. I also frequently joined the raids Party (PKI) members should be fostered if CGMI was unable to remove HMI from the from Luweng Gunungkidul to Manisrenggo possible, or eliminated if they refused. campus, they should just wear sarongs. and Kaliwedi in Klaten, Central Java. In In early 1965, in my third-year study at When the G-30-S incident broke out, Luweng, executions were carried out at the Law School of Gadjah Mada University, I waged intensive war on the PKI and its night, by pushing blindfolded people off I was expelled for putting up a banner and sympathizers in Yogyakarta, especially a steep hill into rivers fl owing to the south poster demanding the break-up of the after the arrival of the Army Strategic coast of Java. Indonesian Students Movement Center Reserve Command (Kostrad) and the In Kaliwedi, west of Klaten, before killing (CGMI). To me, it wasn’t worth CGMI being Army Para Commando Regiment (RPKAD) them, residents were asked to dig 100-200- on campus as the movement was under troops in Yogyakarta around October 1965. meter ditches where PKI cadres would be the PKI. The presence of the troops under Col. placed for execution. In Kaliwedi rifl es and When I held up the poster, I was Sarwo Edhie Wibowo brought fresh air to AKs were used. Pistols were only used to felled by the kick of a CGMI member. the Islamic mass movement. make sure that the victims had really died. ● TEMPO/PRIBADI WICAKSONO

38 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co GRIPPED BY FEAR THE MASSACRE OF PKI MEMBERS IN BALI BEGAN IN JEMBRANA. THOUSANDS WERE KILLED WITHOUT ANY RESISTANCE.

OT much had changed at members of the Indonesian Communist THE killings of PKI members in Bali did the old two-story building in Party (PKI) to be held there. “At that time, not happen right after the abduction and Lelateng village, Jembrana the prison in the center of tow n was already murder of six Indonesian Army generals in N regency. Although the full,” he said. Jakarta, which took place in early October walls looked lackluster The detainees were not held long. 1965. When news of the bloody confl ict and unkempt, the thick-walled building Whenever the ground fl oor and second in the capital reached Bali, the political with three large windows on the second fl oor of the building initially famous as a situation immediately tensed up. However, fl oor appeared sturdy. Four decades ago, sundries shop was full of people, the same there was no movement yet that would lead this building was known as Toko Wong or trucks would take them away. None of them to the mass killings of PKI members. Wong’s Shop. ever returned. One night, for some reason, Geoff rey Robinson, in his book The When Tempo visited in mid-September, the guards got angry. “All of the PKI inmates Dark Side of Paradise, which deals with the elderly in Jembrana still vividly were gunned down with a machine gun,” the history of the political killings in Bali, remembered the murky history of Toko said Raka. No less than 200 died that night. chronicles the events which climaxed in Wong. Although today the building is used “Then we threw their bodies in wells the elimination of all PKI cadres on the to sell furniture, it is not easy to forget what around the shop,” said one resident, ‘Island of the Gods.’ He discovered that the happened there at the end of November backing up Raka’s story. Not wanting his killings fi rst took place in early December 1965. name mentioned, he seemed reluctant to 1965, after forces from the Army Regiment “That shop was used to hold PKI remember the tragedy at Toko Wong. Only and Brawijaya Regional Military Command members,” said Ida Bagus Raka Negara, one thing stuck in his mind: “There was so in East Java landed in Bali. 73, former Tegalcangkring village chief in much blood!” According to Robinson, prior to that Jembrana. He recalled how each night large there was aggressive pressure from the military trucks would bring hundreds of ● ● ● Indonesian National Party (PNI) and CONTRIBUTOR TEMPO/BALI PHOTOS:

40 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS BALI

Ida Bagus Raka had a similar story. In his Baluk Rening Beach, Baluk village, village of Tegalcangkring, he was appointed Jembrana, Bali, and Toko Wong. head of the Pancasila Front. His job was to select who must be killed and who would be allowed to live. “There were 432 on my military also issued lists of people suspected list of PKI members. I only turned 15 over to to be PKI members, complete with the military,” he said slowly. documents on their ‘planned rebellions.’ That December, Jembrana was gripped Public anger began to boil over. An with fear. The governor’s younger brother, incident in Tegalbadeng, Jembrana, marked Anak Agung Bagus Denia, was picked up the start of the mass killings in Bali. at his house in Puri Jembrana. “He was On November 30, 1965, one solider and taken away in a truck which was followed two youths from the NU’s Barisan Ansor by a military jeep,” said Bagus Raka, who unit, moved quietly around the house of witnessed the incident. Then Denia’s body Santun, a police offi cer in Tegalbadeng. was paraded around town and the entire There was news that Santun was holding Puri Jembrana housing complex was a secret meeting of PKI administrators at burned down. his home that night. Suddenly, Santun saw Massacres took place in every Bali town. them. A pistol was fi red and the three were In Gianyar, Tempo found one man—who shot and killed. we will call Wayan—a former village chief News of the murders spread quickly. That who helped kill PKI members in 1965. night the military attacked Tegalbadeng. Meetings to discuss the arrest and killing of “People were running about like chickens communist sympathizers in Gianyar were being chased. The sound of gunfi re was held at district offi ces. “At that time there some Islamic organizations, such as Muhammadiyah, to restore order and “PEOPLE WERE RUNNING ABOUT LIKE destroy the PKI. But the military authority in Bali did not respond to this. Robinson, a CHICKENS BEING CHASED. THE SOUND OF researcher from Cornell University in the GUNFIRE WAS HEARD ALL DAY.” US, wrote that the top military offi cials in Bali were still confused as to the stance it should take: follow Sukarno or Suharto. heard all day,” said 78-year-old Dewa Ketut was an instruction from the commander On top of this, the governor of Bali, Anak Denda, a resident of Tegalbadeng, when of the Operation to Restore Security and Agung Bagus Sutedja, was a senior PKI Tempo visited the village two weeks ago. It Order Command (Komkaptib) in Bali to member. It was this indecision which kept is not clear how many PKI members were wipe out the PKI,” he said. the PKI groups in the villages relatively safe. killed that day, but the incident led the PNI In line with a decision made at a district Clashes had broken out, but were still very group to counterattack. meeting, as village chief Wayan was to sporadic. In some regencies, members of “All of the PNI chiefs in the villages recruit 30 men to be Shield members. the Pemuda Rakyat (a PKI-affi liated youth were asked to gather men who were good They were tasked with rounding up 40 organization) even attacked their rivals at fi ghting, to become members of a core PKI members in their own villages. This from PNI and the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). force,” said Ketut Denda. This force was was done early in the morning. “After all of In mid-November 1965, for instance, known as the ‘Marhaenis Shield.’ In his them had been rounded up, we took them a PKI mob attacked PNI cadres in the village, 30 or more joined this group. to Saba Beach in Blahbatu, Gianyar, in a villages of Gerokgak, West Buleleng, and He was also asked to join, but he refused military truck,” he said. All that morning, Bungkulan in East Buleleng. A clash broke because he was scared. the police and the military came along for out and some youths died, but the fi ghting After that, said Ketut Dewa, military the roundup. did not spread to other areas. trucks began arriving in the villages, On the beach, the PKI prisoners were It was only after Sutedja was fi red picking up PKI members and sympathizers, separated based on their home villages. at the end of November 1965 that the and taking them away. Out front, the Shield While waiting, they were asked to squat situation changed. The commander of members cleared the road. As locals, they on the sand. Then the members of the the Dwikora Region—the highest military knew who was in the Red camp. Each day, Shield were asked to change places, so ruler in a province at that time—Brigadier- thousands were taken away. Some were that they would not have to kill a neighbor General Sjafi uddin ordered that all people gathered at the village graveyard, and some or a relative. After that, using whatever suspected of links with the PKI make an were taken to Baluk Rening Beach, not far weapons they had—short swords and open declaration denouncing the events of from the neighborhood. That was where machetes—hundreds, maybe thousands, of the G-30-S (September 30 Movement). The the killings were done. PKI cadres were beheaded. ●

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 41 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS BALI

I had to do it. Moreover, I saw this as a duty for the country. We took the bodies by truck to bury in holes which had been prepared at the edge of Baluk Rening Beach. Yehembang to Gilimanuk was our operation area. The command post was one place where the executions took place. Sometimes we took them alive to Baluk Rening Beach. There they were asked to line up facing the beach, then we immediately cut them down from behind. The Kodim determined which regiments got assignments, which villages, the list of people to be eliminated, and the place of execution and burial. We only had to carry I KETUT MANTRAM: out the orders. As well as Baluk Rening Beach, we also prepared holes to bury the bodies of PKI THE LIST FROM KODIM members, which we called crocodile holes, at Cupel Beach and Candi Kusuma Beach, in the Malaya district. The beach area was chosen because it was easier to dig there. AM now 72. I remember that when abbreviation for ‘ready to die to defend the One hole could hold 20 bodies, depending the Gestok or October 1, 1965, party.’ Tameng were given swords and wore on how many were executed at one time. movement took place in Jakarta, I black shirts and pants, with red berets. Our Although headquarters asked us to rid I was in Bali, where I was secretary of assignment was to round up and execute PKI members down to their roots, my the Indonesian National Party (PNI) PKI members according to the list of names friends and I would be selective. We only in Baluk village, Negara district, Jembrana given by the Kodim. eliminated those who were truly involved. regency. The abduction of generals in While waiting for this assignment, we After receiving the written order from the Jakarta had heated up the situation in were trained in security measures in case Kodim, we in the regiment were taken by Jembrana, including in Baluk, where I lived. there was any resistance from the people bus—which was also taken from the PKI—to There was a long, acrimonious relationship we we re t o a r re s t . Fo r t u n at e l y no ne o f t h o s e the target village. We were accompanied by between the PNI and the Indonesian we rounded up resisted. However, a few of soldiers and an escort from the village, who Communist Party (PKI). We competed and them had ‘special’ powers. My regiment was pointed out the homes of the PKI members we often became violent. once given the task of killing the PKI chief we had come for. Sometimes, when the I remember a bloody incident that took in Brambang village, Jembrana. There was neighborhoods were too far from the place in Tegal Badeng village, Jembrana. a PKI member there who was unaff ected crocodile holes, we just threw their bodies At the time, I heard that one soldier had by gunshots. Fortunately he died after his inside wells. been killed. The soldier was conducting head was cut off with a sword. In our work, we were mostly under the surveillance on a secret meeting of PKI Every day, for about three months, we command of Kodim soldiers. However, members at a house near a temple in Tegal had to stay at the post waiting for orders sometimes people came from the RPKAD Badeng. One police offi cer who supported from the Kodim. We didn’t care whether it (Special Forces). They went around the the meeting shot him. was day or night, hot or cold. Every order post to check the situation, riding vehicles News of the death immediately spread which came in had to be carried out. At like jeeps. There weren’t many of them, all over Jembrana. The Regional Military that time the mood was terrifying. During just a few. But they were good-looking, Command’s (Kodim) stance was to the day none of the residents dared to walk wore yellow camoufl age uniforms and red eliminate all PKI members in Jembrana around outside. At night, all the lights were berets, and carried weapons that had been regency. Coincidentally, in Baluk a turned off . If we walked around, both sides polished yellow. The RPKAD would come command post had been built right on the of the street were dark. when the situation was secured. land where the Baluk village hall stands I remember, we fi rst received a ‘deposit’ After three months, the order came to now. It was led by the then PNI chairman. In of 90 PKI members. Most of them were cease activities. We were all asked to return accordance with the order from the Kodim, from Tegal Badeng village. The same night to our homes. Remembering how hard we the PNI formed a core platoon of 37 people, we executed them by slitting their throats worked back then, the whole experience of which I was one. or stabbing them in the chest with short felt like a piece written in pencil, easily This core force was known as a Tameng or regular-sized swords, which had been erasable. There was no pay, no one thanked (Shield). Such groups were formed in each taken from PKI members. As someone who us. Suddenly, it was over and we were told to village in Jembrana. Our group was named had never killed a person before, I initially go home. That was that. The important thing the Rantai (Chain) force, which was an felt afraid. But, because this was an order, was that I helped secure the country. ● BALI TEMPO/KONTRIBUTOR

42 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co Garam hamlet, the massacre location.

houses get regularly fl ooded. There is a 400-square-meter area that the Sikkanese believe is the biggest mass grave, fi lled with victims of the 1966 massacres. According to rumors, there were almost 100 people buried there, originating from the villages of Bola and Baubatun of Kewapante subdistrict. Local residents say there were three holes up to 3 meters deep and 25 meters wide where the victims were buried. Today, the place is nothing but heaps of soil on which coconuts and wild grass grow. Local residents recount that during the night they often hear strange noises, like people singing. Peter did not recognize any of the men he beheaded. He said the government just arrested them because their names were on the list handed out by the military. The origin of the list was also mysterious. THE OPERATIONS “Sometimes I’m haunted by feelings of guilt. Every year I make a special request for a Requiem Mass for the repose of the COMMANDER AS GOD deceased. I am convinced that God has received the victims in heaven,” said Peter IF ONE DETAINEE ESCAPED, TWO slowly, as if trying to convince himself. He forgot the day, the date and the month NEGLIGENT EXECUTIONERS WOULD of the incident. What he does remember BECOME THE VICTIMS THEMSELVES. was that the event took place when the cornfi elds were about to be harvested. The victims were laid between the rows ARTS of this picture will then 27 years old. The morning before the of corn, handcuff ed and legs tied. Their never fade from the memory slaughter, he and his friends gathered at the throats were right in the middle of the hole. of Bapak Peter (not his real Tanta Ia Restaurant, located near the port. No noise was heard, except for the sound P name), 75. In one of his They were asked whether they were willing of the machetes swinging down on heads, darkest nights, a car roared to perform the task of killing members of and the thud of bodies falling into the hole. into the area of Wairita Beach, around 15 the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) or kilometers from Maumere, capital of Sikka people suspected of PKI links. “After our ● ● ● regency in Flores. Handcuff ed men with meals, we walked two by two to various FR. Hubertus Thomas Hasulie SVD, their legs bound, were dragged out of the directions and then a truck came to pick us a researcher at the Candraditya Center car towards three 2 x 2.5-meter holes. At up to take us to Wairita Beach,” said Peter. for Research on Religion and Culture in the edge of the holes, executioners were After the killings, the soldiers ordered Maumere, once researched the slaughter waiting with long machetes. them to bury the bodies and cover in Sikka. Hubert—as he is called—began “I was powerless to save them. Even the graves with leaves. The work was his research in 2000. The killings, in his my life was at stake. I didn’t recognize completed at 5am. The local military estimation, began in March 1966. But the anyone. The atmosphere was dark,” said district commander forbade them to tell victims had been detained without trial Peter, who claimed to have been brought the story to anyone. since December 1965. by soldiers to Wairita to dig holes for the But one thing he remembered most was According to Fr Hubert, in Sikka, the victims. Last week the man from Lembata, the person who beheaded 10 PKI suspects state’s operations were carried out by the Flores, recounted the tragedy to Tempo, at in Garam hamlet, Maumere subdistrict, in Armed Forces (at that time known as ABRI, a meeting in Maumere. 1966. Today, this kampung is part of West now as TNI) who were tasked with the Back then, Peter worked as a clerk at Alok subdistrict. Most of its residents work area’s security, at a time of clashes between the cooperative of the seaport. He was at producing salt. During high tides their residents from diff erent backgrounds: SEO TEMPO/JHON

44 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS MAUMERE

based on political party, religion, ethnic group and culture. The graves were Fr. Frederikus usually named after the Catholic Party, da Lopez Pr, the Indonesian Christian Party and the better known Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). “The killings were as Romo Pede. always witnessed by representatives of the Fr. Hubert parties,” said Hubert. Thomas To intensify the terror, the killings were (below). carried out in every subdistrict. When no PKI member could be found in the area, the victims were brought in from other regions and killed there. Throughout Sikka regency, there were around 30 execution sites, from the subdistricts of Talibura, Waigete, Kewa, Bola, Alok, Maumere, Nita, Lela, Lekebai, to as far as Paga. Before the slaughter, TNI personnel usually fetched representatives of the Catholic Party, Indonesian Christian Party and NU representatives, and envoys of Catholics, Protestants and Muslims to be Fr. Frederikus da Lopez Pr, better known They arrived at the headquarters of the witnesses. The executioners were also as Romo Pede, an assistant to the Parish Maumere Military Operation Command taken from among these groups. They were Priest of Bola—around 20 kilometers from around midnight. Romo Pede was seen by ordered to kill while the soldiers and police the city of Maumere—tried to defend those Major Soemarmo, then the commander. stood guard, and supplied them with of his fl ock who were arrested. But he was Soemarmo asked who were to be released. weapons. If one of the detainees escaped, threatened by the military. Romo Pede answered, all of them. The two executioners considered neglectful When Tempo met Romo Pede, 75, at request was rejected. Later it was revealed were to substitute for the victims. the Seminary of Ritapiret, in Sikka the victims were executed in Garam The Security and Order regency, he could clearly recall hamlet. Restoration Operation the happenings that took Following his ‘opposition’ to the Command—in those place 46 years ago. In the operations, all mail sent from the days widely known as late afternoon of March seminary was to be checked beforehand Komop—recruited many 6, 1966, a band of the by government agencies. The military executioners at the military command from was worried that the story of the killing time. In his research Maumere arrived in Bola. of PKI members would circulate outside. Hubert interviewed fi ve They came to fetch men On March 15, 1966, the Kodim 1607 executioners, one of whom who had been gathered in Operations Commander, Major Soemarmo was a military personnel. the cooperative building of sent a warning letter to the Dean—a cleric Each person admitted to the village. representing the Bishop—of Maumere. having killed between 10 to 20 On hearing what was going The message was titled: The interference people. The number of victims in on, Romo Pede hurried to the of the clergy in the business of the Komop the whole Sikka regency was reported to be cooperative building, meeting with the No B.061/III/1966. “Every interference around 1,000 to 1,500 people. commander on guard. “Let me ask you, into and negative contribution against the Generally the executioner was forced why these men are arrested. If they are eff orts of the Komop of the Sikka and East to do the killing under threat. They were really PKI members then they must be only Flores regencies is identical with protecting told that the PKI men were evil people from the lower levels,” said Romo Pede. the Gestapu-PKI and its henchmen,” wrote who did not believe in God. “In Sikka, such Previously, two elementary school Soemarno. The clergymen were cautioned indoctrination was intense: if the PKI men teachers, Jonas and Donatus, recounted not to interfere in Komop business. The weren’t killed, they would fi rst kill the how they succeeded in setting free residents Dean of Maumere was requested to remove priests, nuns, brothers, and students in the of Moribelang hamlet. They were detained Fr. Pede from Bola, “before the Komop seminaries,” Hubert told Tempo. because they had been registered as takes preemptive action.” Nobody could stop the killing. Even as members of the Catholic Party. Then Romo With the consent of Mgr. Gabriel Manek an institution, the Catholic Church could Pede demanded to the personnel on guard: SVD, the Bishop of Ende, Romo Pede was not do much. Only a few priests dared “They must be cross-examined, whether fi nally transferred to Ndona, in Ende to approach the victims to listen to their they are also registered as members of regency. When he was interviewed, Romo confessions before they were killed. Among Catholic Party.” But the request was turned Pede told Tempo, “In Ende, I reported to the priests were Clemens Parera SVD and down. Romo Pede was off ered to join them the Bishop that in Maumere the Operations

TEMPO/JHON SEO, STEPH TUPENG WITIN (PATER HUBERT THOMAS) HUBERT WITIN (PATER TUPENG STEPH SEO, TEMPO/JHON Frans Cornelissen SVD. to go to Maumere. commander had become God.” ●

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 45 http://store.tempo.co BAPA TENGKORAK: I HAD TO KILL MY OWN FAMILY

ENS of years ago, I worked as a manual laborer at Maumere T seaport, now Lorens Say seaport. On March 18, 1963, I was imprisoned because I killed my uncle. I was angry at him because he refused to share the money he got from selling fi sh. I hit him with a sword when both of us were in a restaurant. For the killing I was sentenced to 12 years in prison. But after only three years in jail, the commander of Military District 1603 sent a letter to the prison warden. They wanted to recruit me and nine other prisoners to be executioners—and I was appointed as commander. After the recruitment, we were taken to the headquarters of the Maumere Military District Command (Kodim), and we were informed that they wanted to assign us because this was seen as a task for the state. Sikka regent’s offi ce), Watulemang, Koting, defense duties. We were told to hunt and It had to be carried out, even if some of the Nita, Pauparangbeda, Rane, Detung, kill members of the Indonesian Communist people we beheaded were our own family Higetegera, Baungparat and Pigang. Party (PKI). We were also sworn-in to carry members. Hundreds were killed. I knew this because out the task. After that, we were told to go That night a number of PKI members each time we executed the victims, it home and be combat-ready if we were, at were taken down from the Komop’s truck, was always documented by the Komop any time, summoned to do the task. The handcuff ed and legs tied. They were not commander, Major Soemarmo. summons would be made through Regional blindfolded. They were taken close to the The massacre lasted for four months Government Radio. hole and we cut off their heads with our until May 1966. After that the 10 of us were In February 1966 we were summoned machetes. Blood gushed out, splashing on paid as much as Rp150,000 each and fi ve to gather at the Kodim. We were equipped my body and face. sacks of rice, each containing 50 kilograms. with three spades, three hoes and four Each person we killed was directly Having accomplished a special task for the harrows. Each executioner was given a thrown into the hole we had prepared. state, I was not required to return to prison. machete. After that we were taken to the Armed policemen and military personnel I will never forget the Kodim commander killing fi elds chosen by the commander guarded us tightly. After all of them were Gatot Suherman and Major Soemarmo who of the Security and Order Restoration thrown in the hole, we were told to bury ordered us to execute the PKI members. Operation Command (Komop). There, we them. We planted a reo tree or a branch of Today I am a gravedigger and I live were told to dig a hole 3 meters deep and 5 the kedondong tree over the grave, to mark with my wife. The villagers call me Bapa meters wide. the site. Tengkorak or Father Skull. I am grateful Initially we were stationed at the village I never found out where those we killed that I can live peacefully with the victims’ of Wairita. There we dug three holes and came from. There were also many whom I families, including those whose family buried 45 persons suspected of being PKI was acquainted with. I even had to kill two members I killed. They understand that members. The execution took place at members of my own family. what I did was because I was pressured by midnight under the order of the Komop The butchering spread to the villages of the military. ●

commander. We were not able to refuse Waidoko, Mission Plantation (behind the SEO TEMPO/JHON

46 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 48 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS BEYOND BURU ISLAND

Following the 1965 bloody events, Kopkamtib (Command for the Restoration of Security and Order) mounted Operations Kalong (Bat) and Trisula (Trident) to capture, detain and interrogate people accused of being PKI members around the country. Without due process of law, these people were thrown into concentration camps. Besides remote Buru Island in eastern Indonesia where political detainees were exiled, others were imprisoned in Gunung Sahari II ( Jakarta), Pelantungan (Central Java), Jalan Gandi (Medan), Pulau Kemaro (Palembang) and Mocongloe (South Sulawesi) jails. These were Indonesia’s version of Guantanamo. In those hell-holes, they Inmates, suspected PKI suff ered varying degrees of mental and members, at Tangerang prison, 1966. physical torture. NATIONAL LIBRARY COLLECTION LIBRARY NATIONAL

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 49 http://store.tempo.co THE BAT’S TORTURE CHAMBERS

THE SECURITY FORCES USED VARIOUS METHODS TO EXTRACT CONFESSIONS FROM DETAINEES.

HE old man made a special as it was,” said Syaiful (not his real name) request that the history of in mid-September. Syaiful was a former the old house near his home political detainee who was tortured there. T on Jalan Gunung Sahari II, in Before it was used as the Operasi Kalong Central Jakarta, be forgotten. It headquarters in 1966, according to Syaiful, was, he said, a past tragedy. “It’s dangerous the house was the offi ce of an association to remember it,” he said, requesting that his of becak (pedicab) drivers. The front walls identity not be disclosed. In fact, this elderly were fi lled with traffi c signs to remind becak resident of the area started interrogating drivers of traffi c rules. Tempo who met him, a fortnight ago. “How Syaiful was arrested in 1968 and banished did you know about this? This is an old case,” to Buru Island. He was eventually released known to those interrogated. he said, probingly. in 1979. The former journalist of Harian Torture, which was the usual method The No. 8 house is the former headquarters Rakyat (People’s Daily) and a Lekra (People’s of extracting information, consisted of of Tim Operasi Kalong (Operation Bat), Cultural Institute) activist was 27 when he electrocution, beatings, trampling with the military unit which arrested and had to deal with the military. He said torture military boots, and whipping the backs extracted confessions from hundreds of h a d b e c o m e K a l o n g ’s s t a n d a r d p r o c e d u r e . “ I of detainees with the tail of a stingray. people following the events of G-30-S, 1965 was electrocuted and beaten up,” reported “Electrocution took about fi ve minutes. The (September 30 Movement). “I was 10 years Syaiful. pain in the forearm was unbearable,” Juwito old then,” said the man. When the question Other Kalong inmates, Jawito, 62, and told Tempo. turned to the owner of the large house, he Bedjo Untung, 64, reported that half of the Former political detainee Tan Swie just shook his head. place was transformed into an auditorium, Ling in the book G30S 1965: Cold War and The caretaker of the house did not know an admin offi ce and an interrogation room. Destruction of Nationalism described who owned the house either, claiming he The rest, about 200 square meters in size, the 80 sadistic lashes with a stingray tail was a new employee. “The proprietor of this in the rear part, was used to house the experienced by his close friend. The man house doesn’t live here. It is used as a place detainees. who was arrested along with PKI Secretary- to store the goods of the engkoh (by which Originally from Pemalang in Central Java, General Sudisman by the Kalong, revealed a male Chinese is addressed) who sells his these two men had a ‘taste’ of detention at another favorite torture method, the ayat merchandise at Senen,” he said. He blocked the Kalong for about a year. Bedjo was an kursi, in which the toes were placed under Tempo from passing through a 2.5-meter- activist of Pekalongan’s Indonesian Students the feet of a chair on which the interrogating high black-colored fence with coils of barbed Association, while Juwito was a member of offi cer sat. (Ayat kursi originally is a Qur’anic wire on top. the People’s Youth (Pemuda Rakyat), a sub- verse. Kursi is chair in Indonesian.) The house has become run-down. The group of the Indonesian Communist Party Syaiful said that torture was an option, white color of the walls has become gray (PKI). There were some 200 detainees, but since the interrogating offi cers were with age. Its courtyard was untidy. The dry only two bathrooms with dirty, muddy completely in the dark about PKI cadres and leaves of kapok and petai cina trees covered fl oors for them to use. the organization. “Just imagine, they had parts of the cemented yard. Mounds of old The Kalong team resorted to all methods to question so many people with minimum cardboard boxes of electronic goods lay on to get confessions for further interrogation. preparations and knowledge,” said the the terrace ‘guarded’ by two rigid pillars. On Very often the interrogators used a detainee former resident of Buru Island. “They didn’t one pillar was a sticker with the label, ‘TNI against another or made an inmate even have an offi ce that they looked like the AD’ (Army). their ‘spy.’ The confession being sought becak drivers’ offi ce.” “The house’s condition remains the same concerned the networks and the individuals The Kalong Team was formed by the

50 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS MILITARY OPERATION

operation which was backed by combat and intelligence troops. Jasin revealed his skill of interrogating the local PKI leaders, using death threats. “...I will shoot you dead with my greatest respect to your consistent stance of defending the [communist] party ideology,” he said, as quoted in the book Brawidjaja Operation Trisula Destroys the New-Style PKI. TNI Commander Agus Suhartono refused to comment much regarding the post-1965 large-scale operations, including the Kalong team. He used the pretext of not knowing what the situation was at that time, claiming he should study it fi rst. Nonetheless, Agus felt there was no need to speak of the past, in the interest of averting public unrest. “Let bygones be bygones. That’s part of our history,” he said at Halim Perdanakusumah Airfi eld in East Jakarta, two weeks ago. “Let us take a step forward.” The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) referred to the role of the Kopkamtib (Operation for the Restoration of Security and Order), which investigated the September 30, 1965 Movement. This command was formed by President Sukarno Jakarta Military Region Command V in 1966. Former Kalong headquarters with his then chief commander, Maj. Gen. Their mission was to capture, interrogate on Jalan Gunung Sahari II No. 8, Suharto. and classify the people according to the Central Jakarta. Later on, Kopkamtib reportedly gravity of the charges of their involvement committed crimes against humanity, with the PKI and the murder of the seven force for subsequent interrogation at his like murder, mass destruction, slavery, generals, regarded as heroes of the 1965 headquarters. Kebayoran Lama was indeed eviction, deprivation of freedom, torture, rebellion. focused more on making a profound study rapes, abuses, and abductions. About 3 The offi cial name of the team was of the detainees regarded as leading PKI million people suspected of being PKI unknown, and why it was called Kalong. But fi gures. “Cecep’s military rank was not clear. sympathizers have been reported dead as it was well-known, its name often appearing At times he wore a corporal’s insignia, at a result. “Kopkamtib is most responsible for in newspapers for its record in arresting other times he wore the rank of a brigadier- such gross violations of human rights,” Nur people. Kalong was headed by Major Suroso general,” he said. Kholis, head of the Investigating Team for and Capt. Rosadi. One of the interrogators Arrests, which might lead to the torture 1965 Cases and a member of Komnas HAM, was Capt. Syafei. and even the death of people suspected told Tempo, two weeks ago. Even though it was not the only to have links with the PKI, were made in a Kopkamtib continued its operations after intelligence task force in Jakarta, Kalong was systematic manner. This job was done by Suharto became president. This institution famous for its ruthlessness. It was this team state personnel, chiefl y the military, at all was structured in its organization from the that questioned the most suspects. There levels, both at the center and the regions. central level down to the regional levels. Its were other intelligence units, the Kebayoran There was no objection or opposition job was to identify, arrest and detain people. Lama Intel Task Force, commanded by Cecep from other state administrators, such as Very few of those detained were tried in a at the former offi ce of the Infi co Film Studio; parliament and the judiciary. court of law. Nevertheless, Komnas HAM the Tanah Abang Intel Task Force under The second wave of the mopping-up does not possess authentic documents, Major Endang Surawan, headquartered operations after the 30 September 1965 such as specifi c orders. “We have statements in the former Chinese newsagency Xinhua events took place in 1968. East Java’s from former political detainees,” says Nur offi ce; the Kramat 5 Intel Task Force at the Military Regional Command—Kodam Kholis. former campus of the People’s University VIII/Brawijaya—for instance, carried out Usually, the victims simply got an acquittal (Universitas Rakyat). “Kalong existed until operation Trisula in July 1968 to wipe out letter from their prison or from banishment. 1974,” he said. South Blitar as a PKI stronghold. In his There have never been detention or arrest Of all the task force chiefs, apparently August 9, 1968, press statement in Malang, warrants. “When I was released from Buru Cecep was the most powerful. Syaiful said Kodam Brawijaya chief Maj. Gen. M. Jasin Island, the letter simply said, “Not involved

TEMPO/WISNU AGUNG PRASETYO he could take a detainee from any task announced the success of the Trisula in G30S/PKI,” says Syaiful bitterly. ●

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 51 http://store.tempo.co 52 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS ANWAR CONGO For the fi rst time in the history of Indonesian fi lm, a movie documenting the confessions of a mass killer has emerged. His name is Anwar Congo, a thug who lived by scalping tickets at Medan’s movie theaters. In the The Act of Killing, a fi lm directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, he relives the slaughter he once committed almost 50 years ago. The fi lm shows Anwar’s realization of what it was like to be a killer and how it would be if he were a victim. When The Act of Killing was screened at the Toronto Film Festival, the media in the West called it harrowing and soul- shaking because Anwar looked proud of his deeds. Will the fi lm change the way Indonesians see the period known as the nation’s dark days?

Scene from The Act of Killing.

CARLOS ARANGO DE MONTIS/THEACTOFKILLING.COM

OCTOBER 7, 2012 | | 53 http://store.tempo.co DOCUMENTING MASS MURDERERS THE DOCUMENTARY THE ACT OF KILLING CREATED SHOCK WAVES AT THE TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL. HOW DID JOSHUA OPPENHEIMER MEET THE KILLERS OF COMMUNISTS IN SUMATRA AND ACQUAINT HIMSELF WITH ANWAR CONGO?

T was at the Telluride Film Festi- 300 fi lms screened at the festival. The mov- 2001. At that time he was making a docu- val in Colorado, USA, last Septem- ie was also rated as harrowing and unset- mentary on oil palm plantation laborers in ber. As soon as the screening of the tling. the Matapao region of Serdang Bedagai in I documentary The Act of Killing (Jag- The fi lm is the story of Anwar Congo, a North Sumatra. al) ended, a woman rushed to meet thug hanging around Medan movie the- “I wanted to shed light on their prob- Joshua Oppenheimer, the fi lm’s director. aters, who in his youth during 1965-1966 lems, like the diffi culties of forming a labor It appeared that the woman had just fi n- mercilessly butchered Indonesian Commu- union,” he recalled. ished crying. She told Oppenheimer, “Your nist Party (PKI) members in his hometown. Oppenheimer related how he stumbled movie isn’t just about Indonesia. It’s about In the fi lm, the audience can see how An- on interesting information during the mak- all of us.” war candidly recounts his own brutality. ing of the documentary. The laborers, it A week after the Colorado screening, the turned out, were living next to many peo- fi lm was premiered at the Toronto Interna- ● ● ● ple who during the 1965-1966 period, mur- tional Film Festival in Canada, held Septem- HOW did Oppenheimer manage to fi nd dered laborers who were PKI members. ber 6-16. A number of the media praised the Sumatra and later meet with Anwar Con- “They lived next door to butchers who

movie, calling it one of the favorites among go? Oppenheimer landed in Sumatra in slaughtered their own fathers, uncles and TEMPO/IQBAL MUHTAROM

54 | | OCTOBER 7, 2012 http://store.tempo.co 1965 EXECUTIONERS THE ACT OF KILLING

Pekan Minggu market, Pematang Setrak 1966, at 10pm, they beheaded a PKI mem- of the founders and seniors of the wing. Adi village, near Simpang Matapao. ber named Tris whom they seized from Zulkadry himself was once active and act- Tanjung Kasau prison. One of his partners, ed as treasurer for the North Sumatra chap- Marik, executed him… Tris’s head was sev- ter. However, due to personal confl icts with aunts,” he said. ered from his body. other members, he left the organization. On one occasion, Oppenheimer had a Tempo also met with a Mengkudu Bay res- Nonetheless, his friendship with Anwar chance to chat with one of the butchers, ident named Maeran who knew Amir. Mae- never faltered. who recounted in sickening detail how he ran used to be one of Amir’s men in those “I introduced myself to them as a fi lm di- killed members of the labor union who days. He recounted that the operation was rector with the desire to make a documen- were affi liated with the PKI. “Imagine, controlled from a guard post in Simpang tary about their life experiences and the he talked in front of his 9-year-old grand- Matapao at the intersection of Sumatra’s history of the crackdown on the PKI dur- daughter,” Oppenheimer said. eastern crossroads and the road leading to ing 1965-1966,” Oppenheimer explained. Oppenheimer admitted he was stunned Pematang Setrak. “We always met there,” He said, during the shooting, sometimes by the candidness of the person. Later, af- he said. Anwar would express his fear for revenge ter completing the documentary on the Haji Saim, 83, who lived in Sei Bamban from the victims’ families. Yet, he was also plantation workers, he went back to his subdistrict, Serdang Bedagai, told Tempo convinced that he and his regime in Indo- home in the UK. But he decided to make a that almost every morning he would hear nesia have created such a powerful sense of fi lm about the executioners, and returned news of a corpse by the river which became fear and submissiveness that the victims’ to Matapao in 2004. a public spectacle. “Well, I heard them but I families would not take retaliatory action. In February that year, he started fi lming didn’t want to see them,” he said. Oppenheimer said that in each phase of the story of Amir Hasan, a former leader of the fi lmmaking process, starting from in- an execution squad, who lived in Mengku- ● ● ● terviews until the actual shooting, he al- du Bay subdistrict in Serdan Bedagai. Amir AFTER fi lming Amir Hasan’s story, Op- ways discussed and explained to the crew turned out to be a writer, and he recorded penheimer met with many other former about what they were working on and the his experiences of slaying PKI members executioners. In 2005, he got acquainted purpose. “The approach I took actually in Mengkudu Bay in a 100-page stenciled with Anwar Congo. Anwar was known as a placed me more in the role of a facilitator book titled Embun Berdarah (Bloody Morn- thug at movie theaters. He used to control and technical supervisor,” he explained. ing Dew). The book in which Amir detailed the ticket scalping ring at the Medan Mov- He explained that the ideas of how scenes the Mengkudu Bay killings was later given ie Theater. should be made or what costumes should to Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer found evidence that mem- be worn came more from the actors them- bers of the execution squad in Medan in selves. The Act of Killing is not a fi lm based ● ● ● 1965 were generally recruited from among on a script or a given outline, but rather on LAST Friday, Tempo traveled from Me- movie theater thugs, who had it in for the capturing candid, spontaneous or even un- dan by car heading east for about two hours leftists for boycotting American fi lms. At expected emotional moments. “My only to meet Amir Hasan, but the writer had died that time, tickets for American fi lms idol- capital is patience and I let the camera roll,” three years ago. His youngest son, Zulfan- ized by many Medan residents were most he mused. syah, claimed no knowledge of his father’s profi table for the scalpers. There was even To help Anwar pour out his imagination, writing about what happened in Mengkudu a James Dean fans club that had many fol- Oppenheimer introduced him to his old Bay during 1965-1966. He was suspicious of lowers who dressed and acted like the friend, Ibrahim Sinik, the owner of the Me- Tempo’s visit. American fi lm star. The boycott on Ameri- dan Post daily—Anwar used the fi rst fl oor of Tempo managed to obtain a stenciled can movies meant less income for the hus- the newspaper’s offi ce for his killings. (Ibra- copy of Embun Berdarah from Yohana, 59, tlers at the theater. him Sinik himself once produced a fi lm ti- a relative of Amir. “This is a story about our Oppenheimer was also introduced to Adi tled Batas Impian (Edge of a Dream) in 1970, village,” she said. Amir noted in the book Zulkadry, Anwar’s close friend, way back starring Camelia Malik as the supporting that there were 702 people affi liated with from their teenage years. Together with actress.) the PKI around the Mengkudu Bay district Adi and several other friends, Anwar cap- “I don’t blame Anwar. I thank him for his in 1965. He included the list of people along tured, kidnapped, interrogated, tortured, honesty. The making of this fi lm, neverthe- with the sub-organizations they belonged murdered and later disposed of the bod- less, went through a painful process,” Op- to, such as the Indonesian Farmers Front, ies. They formed a death squad called Frog penheimer told Tempo. He said that the re- Indonesian Plantation Laborers Union, In- Army which later became well-known and sponse from the audience at the Toronto donesian Women’s Movement and the Peo- feared in Medan. and Telluride festivals who were touched ple’s Youth. The squad was coordinated by the Pan- by the fi lm meant much to him. “Through Amir wrote that he and his mates took PKI casila Youth, a wing of the Indonesian In- the audience, I could relieve my pain which members detained in Tanjang Kasau pris- dependence Pioneers founded by Gener- I felt in the past few years while fi lming An- on. He wrote as follows: “On February 22, al A.H. Nasution. Anwar can be called one war’s story,” he added. ●

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