Dear Editor,
Another dictator will not have to answer for crimes committed against his people. General Suharto of Indonesia passed away earlier this week joining Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Idi Amin of Uganda, Marcos of the Philippines, Forbes Burnham, among other deceased dictators who did not answer to judges for serious crimes they committed against their nations. Although he helped to modernize Indonesia and there was stability during his rule, the general’s 33 year dictatorship was one of the worst the world had seen.
Few people in Indonesia shed a tear, much less a thought, for the passing of this repressive dictator. When I was in Indonesia in the late 1990s, everywhere I went people told me they were fed up with his rule and wanted to taste the wave of democracy that was sweeping the rest of the world. It was not too long after that the young people rose up against Suharto’s rule.
When the general ordered the armed forces to fire on peaceful protesters clamouring for his resignation, the army felt it was time to end Suharto’s rule.
The security forces joined the people in toppling the dictator in 1998. He was forced to flee from office, placed under house arrest, ordered to stand trial for massive corruption and the killing of political opponents.
Under his thirty-three year rule, an estimated half a million Indonesians -many of them Chinese and devout (santri) Muslims were killed. A further estimated 200,000 East Timorese, who were under Suharto’s rule, also perished.
And in the West Papua and Aceh provinces, tens of thousands also lost their lives. Nearly one million decent citizens killed under his watch – the price for modernism in Indonesia under Suharto.
And that was not all. The UN did a study of Suharto’s rule and concluded that he stole at least U.S $15 billion. Many more billions could not be found.
His massive accumulated wealth made it difficult for subsequent Indonesian regimes to clean-up after him. His son Tommy is on murder charges and other family members are before the courts in efforts to recover stolen loot.
What Indonesia and Guyana have shown is that countries that were governed by repressive dictators have found it difficult, if not impossible, to recover. With what is happening in Guyana, it looks like our country will never recover from the brutal rule of Forbes Burnham. Indonesia finds it difficult to recover from the dictatorship of Suharto. Other countries in Africa and Latin America are also experiencing serious hurdles to overcome the ill-rule of their dictators.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
