When a History Seminar Becomes Toxic: A Reading of the Attack on LBH Jakarta in September 2017

In a seminar on 16 and 17 September 2017 organised at LBH Jakarta by human rights activists and victims of the post-1965 genocide, a group of researchers wanted to discuss the background to this affair, which remains controversial. They were prevented from holding this discussion by a radical Muslim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archipel 2018-01, Vol.95, p.195-210
Main Author: Wieringa, Saskia E
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:In a seminar on 16 and 17 September 2017 organised at LBH Jakarta by human rights activists and victims of the post-1965 genocide, a group of researchers wanted to discuss the background to this affair, which remains controversial. They were prevented from holding this discussion by a radical Muslim militia. The next day a cultural festival on free speech was held in the same venue as a pacific response, but it was attacked by a large crowd which surrounded the LBH’s office for hours before the police intervened. In this article I discuss the background to these events and argue that human rights defenders are singled out for attack in the power play between competing political factions. In this context, the spectre of communism remains a convenient bogeyman for some groups.
ISSN:0044-8613
2104-3655
DOI:10.4000/archipel.670