The discussion started with the presentation of the material entitled “Genocide ‘65: Government Conscience and Reconciliation” from the first speaker, Soe Tjen Marching, a lecturer at SOAS University of London and the author of Dari Dalam Kubur. In her presentation, Soe Tjen talked a lot about the urgency of justice for the survivors of the ‘65 Tragedy. Soe Tjen also took several examples and quoted her writings in the book Dari Dalam Kubur which also departed from the true story of the ‘65 Tragedy. Soe Tjen’s presentation of material also invited many positive responses from the participants. During the question and answer session after the presentation of the material, many participants used the raise their hand feature on the Zoom Meeting platform and wrote questions in the comments column to be answered directly by Soe Tjen.
The material entitled “Reviewing the 1965 Events and State Responsibility” presented by the second speaker, Muhammad Nurkhoiron, Commissioner of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission for the period 2012-2017, was also useful. In addition to providing a brief description of the pre- and post-’65 Tragedy, Nurkhoiron also explained a lot about the state’s obligations in order to resolve past human rights violations. When explaining this point, Nurkhoiron took the experience of several other countries, such as Australia, as an example. Just like in the question and answer session with Soe Tjen, the participants also showed high enthusiasm for the material presented by Nurkhoiron, thus creating a conducive two-way discussion.
As a form of appreciation, LPPM SINTESA FISIPOL UGM─represented by the moderator, Aldi Haydar Mulia, as Staff of the SINTESA R&D Division─gives mementos to the two speakers in the form of exclusive illustrations at the end of the question-and-answer session. Closing the whole discussion, Aldi drew a brief conclusion and gave a signal for a group photo.