The 1965 Prisoners: How many more will die in jail?

Amnesty International
believes that the continued detention of the 14 elderly prisoners
is cruel, inhuman and degrading. The organisation is therefore
calling on the Government of Indonesia to release immediately all
prisoners of conscience and to ensure that all sick prisoners
requiring specialist medical care are immediately transferred to
an appropriate clinic or hospital for treatment as specified in
the United Nations (UN) Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment
of Prisoners.See
footnote 1

The 14 remaining
prisoners were among more than 500,000 people who were arrested in
the aftermath of the 1965 coup when six army generals were
murdered by a handful of officers loyal to former President
Sukarno. (For a list of all the prisoners and their state of
health see Appendix I). At the time the killings were blamed on
the Communist Party of Indonesia

(Partai Komunis Indonesia -
PKI). The PKI's alleged responsibility for the coup was used by
the military, led by General (now President) Soeharto, as a pretext
to stage a successful counter coup. During the following year
hundreds of thousands of people with suspected PKI links or
sympathies were killed or arrested. Of those arrested, only a
fraction - 1,000 in all - were brought to trial and sentenced to
lengthy terms of imprisonment or condemned to death. The trials of
those accused of PKI membership or involvement in the coup were
manifestly unfair.

Many of the group are
prisoners of conscience, imprisoned for their non-violent
involvement with organisations affiliated to the PKI or the PKI
itself, a legal parliamentary political party at the time of the
alleged coup-attempt. Others who may have been involved in acts of
violence, were sentenced after unfair trials during which the full
facts of their activities could not possibly have emerged. The
trials for those accused of involvement in the coup attempt began
in 1966, but many of the trials were conducted years after the
events. Some of the trials were conducted by military courts. The
trials were conducted in an atmosphere of anti-communist sentiment
which resulted in few witnesses being willing to testify on behalf
of the defendants. Defence lawyers were accused of communist
sympathies and subjected to threats and harassment. Testimonies
were extracted under circumstances allowing for the use of torture
and ill-treatment. Many of the prisoners were tried under the
Anti-Subversion Law, a law which has been criticised for many
years by Indonesian lawyers and human rights activists as an
instrument of repression. The standards of evidence required for
conviction under this law are much less rigorous than other laws
in Indonesia. While less frequently used now, the Anti-Subversion
Law has been used in circumstances where the authorities were not
able to find sufficient evidence for a conviction. Amnesty
International has repeatedly called for the impartial review of
the trials and sentences of political detainees imprisoned after
unfair trials in Indonesia. In the three decades since the events
of 1965, the Indonesian Government has shown no inclination to
allow for the conduct of an impartial review of the trials and
sentences of the 1965 prisoners.

Five of the 14
prisoners still held are under sentence of death. They are Asep
Suryaman, Sukatno, Bungkus, Natanael Marsudi and Isnanto.
All have been on death row for over 20 years. Amnesty
International opposes the death penalty in all cases as a
violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected
to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Prolonged
confinement under sentence of death only exacerbates the cruelty
of this form of punishment. The threat that their sentences may
still be carried out remains very real. Between late 1989 and
early 1990, more than two decades after the alleged coup attempt,
six of the 1965 prisoners were executed. In August 1995, the
Minister of Justice, Utoyo Usman, announced that two political
prisoners in Cipinang Prison would be executed imminently. The
names of the two were not given but they were widely believed to
be Bungkus and Marsudi. In the end the executions did not take
place. However, the threat has not been lifted, since all but
Isnanto are believed to have had their appeals for presidential
clemency rejected, the last legal obstacle before execution.See
footnote 2

The ever present fear
of execution for these five men, and the long years spent in jail
for all of the 14 have taken a toll on their health. At least 11
of them are reported to be suffering from serious physical or
mental disabilities. Sukatno, a former member of parliament and
one of those on death row, is said to be seriously ill, both
physically and mentally. In April 1996, the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU) urged the Indonesian Government to release Sukatno
because of his “..advanced age, the nearly three decades he
has already spent in prison and his deteriorating health.See
footnote 3

In recent months one of
the prisoners detained in Kalisosok Prison, Surabaya, has suffered
two strokes. Manan Effendi Tjokrohardjo, aged 76 years old,
suffered a stroke in March 1996 which left him paralysed and
hardly able to speak. Immediately after his stroke he was taken to
the prison hospital and also treated briefly in a public hospital
before being returned to his cell in June. On 17 July, it is
believed that he suffered another stroke which has left him more
severely paralysed and in need of constant care and assistance. He
is now being looked after by his fellow prisoners and has visits
from a prison doctor. Alexander Warouw, also detained in
Kalisosok Prison, was also reported to have been hospitalised for
a brief period earlier this year. Aged 78, he is also known to be
suffering from diabetes and has difficulty in standing due to
dizziness. He has problems with his vision and with the muscles on
one side of his face possibly as a result of his diabetes. Both
Manan Effendi and Alexander Warouw were arrested in October 1965
and later sentenced to life imprisonment.

In April 1995, Ruslan
Wijayasastra, one of the death row prisoners, died after
spending almost 27 years in prison. Ruslan, arrested in 1968 and
sentenced to death in July 1974, was a member of the central
committee of the PKI, deputy chairman of the Peasants' Union and a
former Secretary-General of the International Labour Organisation.
Prior to his death, he had become partially paralysed, almost
blind and unable to walk. His condition forced him to employ two
helpers to assist him, the costs for which had to be covered
privately. His last three months were spent under arrest in
hospital.

Last year three of the
1965 prisoners, Subandrio, Omar Dhani and Sutarto
were released from prison as an act of clemency to celebrate the
50th anniversary of Indonesian independence. Their release came at
a time of increased domestic pressure from both within government
and non-government circles for the prisoners to be released.See
footnote 4 Indeed the strength of the domestic calls for the
release of the prisoners challenged the previous position of the
Indonesian Government that it would not bow to international
pressure to release the remaining prisoners. Pressure for their
release is now coming most strongly from within Indonesia itself.

Amnesty International
calls on the Government of Indonesia to release immediately all
prisoners of conscience and to ensure that all sick prisoners
requiring specialist medical care are immediately transferred to
an appropriate clinic or hospital for treatment as specified in
the United Nations (UN) Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment
of Prisoners. Amnesty International also urges the authorities to
immediately remove the threat of execution from Asep Suryaman,
Sukatno, Bungkus, Natanael Marsudi and Isnanto by commuting their
death sentences.

INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT, 1 EASTON STREET,
LONDON WC1X 8DJ, UNITED KINGDOM

List of 1965 prisoners believed to be still
held - August 1996

Footnote:
1 Rule 22 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the
Treatment of Prisoners states “Sick prisoners who require
specialist treatment shall be transferred to specialized
institutions or to civil hospitals. ...”.

Footnote:
2 The clemency appeal for Sukatno was lodged by the
District Court of Central Jakarta in 1986 without Sukatno's
knowledge or approval. Despite this, it was rejected by President
Soeharto on 13 May 1992. According to information from the
Inter-Parliamentary Union, it would appear that the District Court
has lodged a second appeal for clemency and that this appeal is
still pending. Sukatno himself maintains that he does not want to
appeal for presidential clemency as he believes it would hasten
his execution.

Footnote:
3 Resolution adopted without a vote by the
Inter-Parliamentary Council at its 158th session (Istanbul, 20
April 1996); Case No IDS/09 - Sukatno, Indonesia.

Footnote:
4 See Amnesty International: The 1965 Prisoners: A
Briefing, July 1995, ASA 21/36/95.

AI Index: ASA 21/43/96

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