Citizenship Restored

Following the violent suppressions of the Indonesian Communist Party in the 1960s, the Suharto and his New Order developed the country’s legal system to demonize communism. It remains illegal to have any propoganda promoting communist ideology. Along with this, the government also targeted people who were seen as tainted by communism in some way - these people are called ex-tapol. This status was stamped on their identity card and restricted several of their rights: “they were not allowed to vote or to run for public office, they were not eligible for scholarships, and they were excluded from government employment unless they could provide a certificate of non-involvement in the events of 30 September 1965.”  In 2011, however, the Supreme Court ruled that the Decree that discriminated against “ex-communists” was no longer valid, and therefore restrictions levied against them are inoperable. 

I find the response to communism by Indonesia really interesting, especially in contemporary times. Their stance has always been aggressive, often crossing over into violence, but in this era of Human Rights, one can see changes are taking place. Although they might still be against communism, it seems Indonesia has softened its reaction to (ex-)communists. I think it would be quite interesting to write a paper on negotiating Indonesian fear and responses to communism in this contemporary age of global human rights. Why does Indonesia remain so hostile to communism despite all this time? Why are they changing now? What internal and external factors are influencing this decision? Even if the government has ruled that ex-tapol should no longer be discriminated against, will this actually be put into practice on the ground?