Today, victims and relatives of victims from the 1965 atrocities went to Komnas HAM (the National Commission for Human Rights) assisted by KontraS to continue to demand the fulfillment of victims’ rights. There they met with Commissioners from the Monitoring Division, Nur Cholis and Johny Simanjuntak. Members of victims’ groups LPKP ’65, LPKROB, and Victims’ Paguyuban from Madiun, East Java asked these Commissioners why Komnas HAM’s continues to only inquire into events at Buru Island when atrocities took place all over Indonesia, including in Medan and Sulawesi.

The victims also expressed their desire for rehabilitation, compensation, the elimination of discrimination, and the creation of a true historical record for the next generation. Many of these victims had been wrongfully imprisoned for many years, and spent decades more unable to get a job or earn a living due in many cases due to discriminative regulations preventing them from receiving jobs as civil servants.

The Komnas HAM Commissioners explained that they are starting with an inquiry into the events at Buru Islands because it is the most clear-cut case, but they anticipate that it will help trigger investigations into other cases. As for rehabilitation and compensation, Komnas HAM offered to conduct a mediation to help move this process forward. In response, KontraS proposed that Komnas HAM include other, lower, government institutions in the mediation process.

After meeting with Komnas HAM, the victims and KontraS also met with Komnas Perempuan (the National Commission Violence against Women). There they met with Commissioners Arimbi and Azriana. The objective of the meeting was to ask Komnas Perempuan to help deal with the cases of 1965 atrocities especially in respect to helping female victims.

The Komnas Perempuan Commissioners explained that they launched a research report on the 1965 atrocities which, amongst other things, recommended the creation of an official historical record. KontraS and victims then asked Komnas Perempuan to help lobby other government institutions and give an additional voice to victims’ concerns. They requested that Komnas Perempuan provide additional information about the 1965 atrocities to Depukham (the Law and Human Rights Department) to help supplement Depukham’s current, inadequate, research. They also asked that Komnas Perempuan help fight for the eradication of discriminative regulations and lobby key government officials to develop a rehabilitation program.