Genocide
in
the
Indonesia
An
Annotated
Bibliography
Compiled
by
Jaydi
Colmenares
Raney
Historical
Overview
East
Timor
and
Indonesian
Communists
Who:
Civilians
and
PKI
supports;
East
Timorese
When:
1965-66;
1972
&
1999
Where:
Throughout
Indonesian
Islands
(Java,
Sumatra,
Bali);
East
Timor
Estimated
Numbers:
Approx.
500,000
killed
in
Indonesia,
500,000
arrested;
200-300,000
killed
in
East
Timor
Indonesian
Communist
Party
(PKI)
Indonesia
is a
victim
of
its
own
national
composition.
With
13,700
islands,
over
250
languages,
and
at
least
300
ethnic
groups,
the
diversity
of
interests
destabilizes
the
central
authority.
After
independence
from
the
Dutch
East
India
Company
in
1949,
the
two
largest
political
parties,
the
Indonesian
National
Party
(PNI)
and
the
Indonesian
Communist
Party
(PKI),
shared
power
with
several
other
small
parties.
The
popularity
of
the
PKI
grew
as
the
peasant
farmers
were
attracted
to
the
ideology.
The
coalition
government
struggled
to
preserve
the
balance
of
the
PKI
and
the
army.
In
1965,
coup
called
the
September
30
Movement
attempted
to
seize
power.
The
PNI
and
General
Suharto
quickly
turned
back
the
uprising.
Suharto
established
de
facto
control
and
became
president
in
1967.
The
new
government
placed
the
former
president
under
house
arrest
until
his
death
in
1970.
The
army
blamed
the
coup
attempt
on
PKI
and
launched
retaliation
and
a
round-up
of
all
suspected
sympathizers.
The
conflict
between
the
PKI
and
the
army
culminated
in
the
massacre
of
500,000
PKI
supporters
and
the
arrest
of
500,000
others,
mainly
civilians,
from
1965-66,
until
the
PNI
had
established
full
dominance.
Suharto
stayed
in
power
until
1998
in
one
of
the
longest
reigns
of
any
military
dictator.
For
over
30
years
of
his
rule,
raids
and
massacres
continued.
The
killings
had
ethnic
and
religious
dimensions
with
the
targeting
of
Chinese
populations
and
attacks
by
both
Christians
and
Muslims.
The
two
political
parties
basically
were
composed
along
ethnic,
religious,
and
class
distinctions.
Indonesian
Muslims
and
parts
of
the
Christian
population
aligned
themselves
with
the
conservative
PNI
to
suppress
the
atheists
or
indigenous
polytheists.
Furthermore,
some
victims
seemed
to
be
selected
because
of
their
Chinese
heritage.
Analysts
also
identify
social
features
that
marked
the
victims
since
urban
elite
tried
to
control
the
rural
peasants.
Due
to
the
political
nature
of
these
killings
and
the
strategic
relations
between
the
Indonesian
government
and
the
international
community,
few
states
have
called
this
incident
a
genocide.
Like
many
military
regimes,
the
Indonesian
government
was
characterized
by
continuous
armed
oppression
of a
civilian
population.
East
Timor
This
tension
between
civilians
and
military
again
was
manifested
in
mass
killings
and
destruction
in
East
Timor.
Indonesia
invaded
the
small
island
in
1975,
one
day
after
a
visit
to
Jakarta
by
President
Ford
and
Secretary
of
State
Henry
Kissinger.
The
occupation
claimed
over
200,000
lives,
or
1/3
of
the
population,
and
occurred
against
United
Nations
appeals
to
the
Indonesian
government,
largely
because
of
US
support
of
the
government
and
its
arms
buying.
For
two
decades,
the
East
Timorese
resisted
occupation.
In
1998,
after
President
Suharto
was
forced
to
resign
due
to
the
economic
crisis,
the
new
government
offered
to
have
elections
to
decide
the
fate
of
East
Timor.
On
August
30,
1999,
with
a
voter
turnout
of
over
98%
of
East
Timorese,
78%
voted
for
independence
in
U.N.-supervised
elections.
The
subsequent
murder,
looting,
and
arson
by
anti-independence
militias
and
Indonesian
police
and
troops
destroyed
around
70%
of
the
local
property
and
displaced
3/4
of
the
population.
United
Nations
estimates
placed
the
casualties
at
1,500
killed.
Many
people
were
relocated
forcefully
to
West
Timor.
Currently,
East
Timor
is
under
UN
supervision
awaiting
full
independence.
US
policy
makers
often
ignored
the
Indonesian
conflicts
until
the
outbreak
of
violence
after
the
Timorese
elections.
The
Indonesian
government
was
considered
a
long
time
arms
trade
partner
and
an
ally
against
the
so-called
Asian
Communists.
However,
American
and
East
Timorese
human
rights
activists
worked
with
members
of
Congress
over
the
years
to
slowly
change
foreign
policy.
In
reaction
to
the
violence
in
East
Timor,
the
US
suspended
military
relations
with
Indonesia.
The
United
Nations
annually
released
resolutions
condemning
human
rights
violations
by
the
Indonesian
military,
but
it
neither
recognized
East
Timor's
autonomy
in
the
face
of
the
government's
invasion
nor
took
any
action
against
Indonesia.
However,
groups
of
non-governmental
organizations
and
global
human
rights
advocates
mobilized
opposition
to
the
violence.
The
Norwegian
Nobel
Committee
awarded
a
joint
Peace
Prize
to
Bishop
Carlos
Belo
and
Jose
Ramos-Horta
of
East
Timor
for
seeking
a
just
and
peaceful
solution
to
the
conflict.
Indonesia
of
late
has
been
under
further
scrutiny
for
its
militant
reaction
to
national
movements
in
Aceh,
Maluku,
and
West
Papua.
-The
Campaign
to
End
Genocide:
An
Initiative
of
the
World
Federalist
Association.
http://www.endgenocide.org/genocide/indonesia.html
East
Timor
Books
1.
Amnesty
International
(1985).
East
Timor
Violations
of
Human
Rights,
Extrajudicial
Executions,
“Disappearances”,
Torture
and
Political
Imprisonment,
1975-1984.
London:
Amnesty
International.
This
is a
first-person
account
in a
report
of
the
region.
Includes
numerous
excerpts
from
first-person
statements
about
the
executions
and
mass
killings
of
the
East
Timorese
by
the
Indonesia
militia.
2.
Dunn,
James
(1983).
Timor:
A
People
Betrayed.
Australia:
The
Jacaranda
Press.
This
book
gives
an
in-depth
look
into
the
history
of
the
situation
in
East
Timor.
It
includes
a
first
person
account
of
the
Indonesia
invasion
which
included
massacres,
torture,
disappearances,
and
other
atrocities.
3.
Kohen,
Arnold,
and
Taylor,
John
(1979).
An
Act
of
Genocide:
Indonesia’s
Invasion
of
East
Timor.
London:
TAPOL.
This
book
offers
numerous
accounts
of
first-person
statements
about
the
invasion
of
East
Timor
by
Indonesia
and
the
atrocities
that
were
witnessed.
4.
Retboll,
Torben
(Ed.)
(1980).
East
Timor,
Indonesia
and
the
Western
Democracies.
Copenhagen:
IWGIA.
In
this
book
the
author
includes
an
article
entitled
“Letter
from
a
Resident
in
Dili”,
originally
published
in The
Canberry
Times
on
February
14th,
1978.
This
article
describes
in
full
the
atrocities
committed
by
Indonesia
onto
a
group
of
villages
in
East
Timor.
5.
Retboll,
Torben
(Ed.)
(1984).
East
Timor:
The
Struggle
Continues.
Copenhagen:
International
Work
Group
for
Indigenous
Affairs.
An
overview
of
the
genocide
of
the
people
of
East
Timor
from
1975
to
1984
is
discussed
in
this
book.
Also
included
is
chapter
five,
entitled
“Violations
of
Human
Rights”
which
contains
articles
that
were
published
in
newspapers
in
Australia
of
first-hand
accounts.
Journals
6.
Chomsky,
Noam
(2000).
The
United
States,
East
Timor,
and
Intervention.
Bulletin
of
Concerned
Asian
Scholars,
32(102):
55-58.
ISSN:
0007-4810.
This
articles
examines
the
possibility
that
the
US’s
role
in
the
support
of
the
Indonesian
intervention
in
East
Timor
in
1999
could
have
led
to
the
brutal
invasion
of
East
Timor.
The
author
argues
that
US
economic
aid
could
have
resulted
in
genocide
of
the
East
Timorese.
7.
George,
Alexander
(1986).
Genocide
in
East
Timor.
Contemporary
Review
(Great
Britain),
249(1448):
119-123.
Entry:
38B:9629.
This
article
discusses
how
Indonesian
forces
invaded
East
Timor
on
December
7th,
1975
in
order
to
overtake
Timor’s
nationalist
and
popular
movement.
It
examines
the
extent
of
the
violation
of
human
rights
in
East
Timor
between
1975
and
1985,
and
how
the
Indonesian
forces
have
repressed
the
defenseless
people
of
East
Timor.
8.
Gunn,
Geoffrey
C.
(2000).
The
500-Year
Timorese
Funu.
Bulletin
of
Concern
Asian
Scholars,
32(1-2):
5-10.
ISSN:
0007-4810.
This
article
provides
a
history
spanning
five
hundred
years
of
Timorese
resistance
against
the
Netherlands
and
Portugal.
It
concludes
with
the
downfall
and
genocide
of
the
Timorese
by
Indonesia
in
1975.
9.
Sidell,
Scott
(1981).
The
United
States
and
Genocide
in
East
Timor.
Journal
of
Contemporary
Asia
(Sweden),
11(1):
44-61.
Entry:
34B:4128.
This
article
discusses
the
US’s
contribution
to
the
government
of
Indonesia
and
argues
that
this
aid,
mainly
in
the
form
of
military
equipment,
contributed
to
the
death
and
starvation
of
thousands
of
East
Timorese.
Indonesian
Militia’s
Genocide
of
Alleged
Communists
Journals
10.
Cribb,
Robert
(2001).
Genocide
in
Indonesia,
1965-1966.
Journal
of
Genocide
Research
(Great
Britain),
3(2):
219-239.
ISSN:
1462-3528.
Entry:
53:9432.
This
article
examines
the
definition
of
genocide
in
the
context
of
the
history
of
Indonesia.
The
author
argues
that
since
the
UN
Convention
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