Soeharto in Brief

The second President of Indonesia passed away on January 2008. He is the

most controversial among Indonesian Presidents since 1945. There are many

controversies about his root, his role in 1965, his policies and his corruption

cases. Here is a brief story about him.

The Family root.

There are many stories about his family. Pop magazine wrote in 1974 that

his father was RL Prawirowiyono, an official from the Yogyakarta palace. R

Rio Padmodipuro was his official name from the palace. But soeharto denied

this story and later he banned the magazine. The editor was then jailed. He

told the public that his father was Kertosudiro from Kemusuk, a small village

in the outskirt of Yogyakarta.

Several years later Tempo weekly magazine wrote similar story in the special

edition of January 2008. Rio was his father. When Soeharto was about six

years old Rio married the daughter of Jayengprakosa, a powerful official from

the palace. That is why Rio had to move Soeharto and his mother Sukirah to

Kemusuk. Later Sukirah married Kertorejo, a village official who took care of

irrigation. This is the second marriage for both of them.

Unfortunately several years later they divorced. Once again young Soeharto

had to move. This time to Wuryantoro, Wonogiri in Central Java where he

spent his student days. He lived with his aunt Mrs Prawiroharjo, wife of Mr

Prawiroharjo and sister of Kertorejo. His uncle was a low rank official who

took care of agriculture. One of his sons is Sudwikatmono who later became

a prosperous businessman when Soeharto was in power.

after graduating from high school Soeharto joined the Dutch army. But when

the Dutch colonial government collapsed he joined the Japanese army. When

the Japanese army in Indonesia was defeated and the Dutch army came back

to Indonesia Soeharto fought them.

Under Sukarno he served the nation as an army officer and once he was

posted in Central Java. In 1962 Major General Soeharto led the Mandala

operation to liberate Irian barat or the present day Papua from colonial rule.

Soeharto rose to power gradually out of severe political conflict in 1960's.

He won the conflict with PKI ( Partai Komunis Indonesia) and in 1968 he was

appointed as acting President of Indonesia.

Economic success.

when Soeharto came to power in 1968 he inherited severe economic and

socio-political problems from Sukarno. Inflation rate reached 600%. Public

facilities and productivity were very poor.

Seoeharto then recruited ecenomic experts mostly from prestigious

Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta to become his ministers. They designed

five-year plan to build Indonesia's economy. On the first five - year plan

Soeharto put emphasis on afgricultural development. He built facilities like

roads, elementary schools, small hospitals, electricity and many other

suporting facilities mainly in Java island. Soon rice production rose. In 1985

Indonesia reached self sufficiency in rice. Trade and industry were booming

that people were optimistic that Indonesia would become a new Asian tiger.

Human right cases.

Besides his success in leading Indonesia's economic development Seharto

left darks sides. Here is a brief note on his suspected human right

violations.

In the early morning of September 30, 1965 political conflict that would

become bloodshed broke out in Jakarta. a group of armed men suspected to

be communist killed seven key army generals including army chief of staff

General Ahmad Yani. Amazingly Soeharto was not on their list, although he

was the commander of Kostrad or army Strategic command.

Shortly after that violence broke out and spread to many parts of the

country. Anti-communist elements in the army and civilians arrested and

attacked communist members and supporters. Nobody knows for sure the

exact number of victims. Estimates starts from hundreds of thousands to

millions of people lost their lives, wounded or persecuted. Most of them

never stood trial.

thousands of people categorized as 'B' class, including a famous writer

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, were exiled to Buru island in the eastern part of

Indonesia for many years. during this period he wrote his welknown Buru

quartet. Those categorized as 'C' class or suspected to be 'influenced'

communism, were forbidden to become teacher, civil servant, army and

police members, politicians and even vote on elections.

Despite all the facts that there were so many human right violations

following the abortive coup, it is very difficult to blame Soeharto from the

legal perspective.

Mysterious shootings.

In 1983 people in Java often found dead bodies left on the roadside. Later

they were identified as bandits. Rumor said it was the military who shot

them, but they denied all the allegations. Armed forces commander General

Benny Moerdani stated that those killings were the result of gang war; that it

was not a government policy. He admitted, however, that some of them 'shot

to death by officials because they fought those officials'.

several years later Soeharto wrote in his autobiography published in 1989

that it was a shock therapy for them. He said that they 'went too far beyond

the limit of humanity', so he had to take firm actions. He added further that

only those who fought were shot to death.

General Moerdani said that up to July 1983 there were three hundred victims

but perhaps the exact number far exceeds that number. Mulyana W

Kusumah said that there were two thousand victims while Dutch foreign

minister stated three thousand.

Talangsari.

On February 7, 1989 there were shootings in the village of Way Jepara,

province of Lampung, in the island of Sumatra. The troops attacked a group

of moslem under the leadership of Warsidi. The military accused them of

preparing an Islamic state.

The case began on January 27, 1989 when the camat ( sub-district chief,

under regent) of Way Jepara told the local military command that there were

suspicious religious activities in Talangsari. On February 5, 1989, five

members of the religious group were arrested by security officials. Then the

next day commander of the local military command captain Soetiman came

to Talangsari. Hostility escalated and captain Soetiman was killed.

The number of casualties is not clear. The military said twenty-seven people

died but NGO's estimated 246 deaths. (Tempo special edition of January

2008). KONTRAS (commission on disappeared persons and victims of

violence) noted that 27 persons killed, 78 were disappeared involuntarily, 5

persons kidnapped, and 23 were arrested unlawfully. (Kompas, March 4,

2008).

Today this case remain a hot political issue in Indonesia. KOMNAS HAM (The

National Commission on Human Rights) conducted investigations on the

case. They called several key generals involved in the case but they refused

to come. Former Admiral Sudomo was the only one who came to KOMNAS

HAM . Other generals like Hendro Priyono, who was the local commander

at the time, and wismoyo Arismunandar who led the Central java command,

never sowed up in KOMNAS HAM. Minister of defense Juwono Sudarsono

made a comment that the retired generals are not obliged to obey KOMNAS

HAM. the statement generate sharp criticism from human right activists,

academicians and journalists.

Tanjung Priok.

On September 1984 there was a poster in a small mosque in Tanjung Priok,

North Jakarta, appealing moslem women to wear veil. On September 7,

1984 a soldier from the local military command asked moslems to remove

the poster. The moslems refused. The next morning the soldier came

again ands soon removed the poster. Shortly after that rumors spread that

the soldier did it without putting off his shoes when he entered the mosque

which means violations of courtesy and humiliation for moslems and

religion. People got angry and then they attacked the soldier.

The military command retaliated. Some people were arrested. Amir Biki a

local moslem leader led the protest demanding the release of their friends.

More and more people joined the mob then they went to the local military

command. Riot broke out and the army shot them. The government

stated that there were 27 casualties but people said there were

seven-hundred including Amir Biki. Several people were arrested. After the

fall of Soeharto demand to investigate the case grew stronger . Several

generals stood for trial but the verdict is that they are not guilty.

Books about Soeharto.

So far there are many writers, experts, and journalist wrote books about

various aspects of his life. There are many books in Bahasa Indonesia

(Indonesian language) and English. The latest one is written by Retnowati

Abdulgani Knapp, the daughter of Roeslan Abdulgani, former foreign

minister under Sukarno. She wrote her book in English : The Life and Legacy

of Indonesia's second President. Another book is : Indonesia in the Soeharto

years : Issues, Incidents, and Images, edited by John H Glyn, Oscar

Motuloh, Suzanne Charle and Bambang Bujono. Then there is Geoff forrester

who wrote Post-Suharto Indonesia : Renewal or Chaos ? Kevin O' Rourke

wrote : Reformasi : The struggle for power in Post Suharto Indonesia. RE

Nelson wrote : Suharto : A Political Biography. Adam Schwartz wrote : A

nation in waiting : Soeharto's Indonesian in 1990's.