ABSTRACT
More than 20 years after the resignation of Indonesian President Suharto in 1998, and more than 50 years after he ascended to power amidst an Army-sponsored campaign of mass killing in 1965-1966, the movement for justice and accountability in Indonesia continues to grow. New scholarship both builds on and reinforces the work of a generation of activists who, since 1998, have insisted upon a fundamental re-examination of Indonesia’s official accounts of the 1965-1966 killings, the acknowledgement of the injustice inflicted upon its victims, and an official truth-seeking and accountability process. Indonesian human rights organisations have played a crucial role, victims and survivor groups have shouldered much of the political risk, displaying astonishing bravery and perseverance in the face of government indifference or hostility, attacks and threats from ‘anti-communist’, Muslim, and military and paramilitary groups determined to silence them. The International People’s Tribunal 1965 joins a stream of transitional justice initiatives that have become more widely accepted features of post-authoritarian governance.
