Why Go On Killing?

From October 1965 to March 1966, a series of large-scale killings and civil unrest primarily targeting members and supposed sympathizers of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) took place in Indonesia. Other affected groups included alleged communist sympathisers, Gerwani women, trade unionists, ethnic Javanese Abangan, ethnic Chinese, atheists and other non-Muslims, and leftists in general. According to the most widely published estimates, at least 500,000 to 1 million people were killed. Some of the higher estimates reach figures as much as 2 to 3 million people killed. The killings, sometimes described as a politicide and occasionally as a genocide, were instigated by the Indonesian Army under Suharto. Research and declassified documents demonstrate the Indonesian authorities received support from foreign countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The killings began as an anti-communist purge following an attempted coup d'état by the 30 September Movement, which they self-proclaimed over media and communication outlets. It was a pivotal event in the transition to the "New Order" and the elimination of the PKI as a political force, with impacts on the global Cold War. The Army, after banning all independent news sources from publishing for a week, almost immediately pinned the abortive coup attempt to the PKI. Concurrently, the intelligence agencies of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia engaged in black propaganda campaigns against Indonesian communists. During the Cold War, the U.S. government and its Western allies had the goal of halting the spread of communism in addition to bringing countries into the sphere of Western Bloc influence. Separately, Britain had reasons for seeking Sukarno's removal, as his non-communist government was involved in an undeclared war with neighboring Malaysia, a Commonwealth federation of former British colonies. Communists were purged from political, social, and military life in Indonesia, and the PKI itself was disbanded and banned. Mass killings began in October 1965, in the weeks following the coup attempt, and reached their peak over the remainder of the year before subsiding in the early months of 1966. They started in the capital, Jakarta, and spread to Central and East Java, and later Bali. Thousands of local vigilantes and army units killed actual and alleged PKI members, as well as members of other marginalized groups. Killings occurred across the country, with the most intense in the PKI strongholds of Central Java, East Java, Bali, and northern Sumatra. The upheavals led to the fall of Sukarno, who had been granted the title "President for life", and ushering in Suharto's three decades of pro-West authoritarian militaristic presidency. The killings are skipped over in most Indonesian history textbooks and have received little attention by Indonesians due to their suppression under the Suharto regime, as well as lack of international attention. The search for satisf