• Press Release

Amnesty International USA Welcomes Indonesian Resolution in US Congress

December 11, 2014

Contact: Amanda Simon, (212) 633-4162, [email protected]

 

(WASHINGTON, DC) – In response Sen. Tom Udall’s (D-NM) floor speech Wednesday introducing a resolution bringing attention to the 1965-66 slaughter following a military coup by General Suharto and the Indonesian military, Amnesty International USA issued the following statement:

Amnesty International USA welcomes Sen. Udall’s resolution bringing attention to one of the worst massacres of the last century – the 1965-66 slaughter of more than a million Indonesians following a military coup by General Suharto and the Indonesian military. 

Sen. Udall said Wednesday, “My resolution proposes two things. First, I urge Indonesia’s new government to create a truth and reconciliation commission to address these crimes. Second, I urge our own government to establish an interagency working group and to release relevant classified documents.”

In 2001, the US State Department declassified documents from this period which revealed the US Embassy and the CIA were actively involved in helping the Indonesian military during the period of the coup. Nearly half a century later, Amnesty International USA echoes Sen. Udall’s call for release of all relevant classified documents by the US government.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning global movement of more than 7 million people in over 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.