Indonesian Genocide
Global Reaction:
Throughout the duration of the genocide, the Western Governments looked upon the purge and mass killings as a victory over Communism. Occurring at the height of the Cold War between Communist nations and 1st world countries, the presence of the Indonesian massacres in the media was heavily monitored, and most Journalists were unable to enter Indonesian territories. Instead, they were forced to rely upon the official statements made by the Western Governments. In fact, the British embassy went as far as advising the intelligence headquarters in Singapore on ways of presenting information to the public, stating “Suitable propaganda themes might be: PKI brutality in murdering Generals, ... PKI subverting Indonesia as agents of foreign Communists. ... British participation should be carefully concealed.” The reaction of the U.S. was that of excitement and sense of victory, with U.S. Time magazine praising Suharto's regime as "scrupulously constitutional.", as well as “...a triumph for Western propaganda,". Most U.S. news reporting agencies downplayed the Indonesian Army’s role in the mass killings, as …show more content…
The USSR Nuclear Physicist and peace activist Andrei Sakharov had proclaimed the mass killings a “tragic event” as well as “an extreme case of a reaction, racism, and militarism”. The Soviet opinion, however, remained otherwise unexpressed. The Chinese government called the actions of the Indonesian Army “heinous and diabolical crimes ... unprecedented in history.", and North Korea went as far as proclaiming the Suharto government a "military fascist regime" and expressed negative views towards the actions of the Army. The UN, however, avoided commenting on the mass killings, and when Suharto attempted to return to the Indonesian seat in the UN, communist Albania was the only member to
Throughout the duration of the genocide, the Western Governments looked upon the purge and mass killings as a victory over Communism. Occurring at the height of the Cold War between Communist nations and 1st world countries, the presence of the Indonesian massacres in the media was heavily monitored, and most Journalists were unable to enter Indonesian territories. Instead, they were forced to rely upon the official statements made by the Western Governments. In fact, the British embassy went as far as advising the intelligence headquarters in Singapore on ways of presenting information to the public, stating “Suitable propaganda themes might be: PKI brutality in murdering Generals, ... PKI subverting Indonesia as agents of foreign Communists. ... British participation should be carefully concealed.” The reaction of the U.S. was that of excitement and sense of victory, with U.S. Time magazine praising Suharto's regime as "scrupulously constitutional.", as well as “...a triumph for Western propaganda,". Most U.S. news reporting agencies downplayed the Indonesian Army’s role in the mass killings, as …show more content…
The USSR Nuclear Physicist and peace activist Andrei Sakharov had proclaimed the mass killings a “tragic event” as well as “an extreme case of a reaction, racism, and militarism”. The Soviet opinion, however, remained otherwise unexpressed. The Chinese government called the actions of the Indonesian Army “heinous and diabolical crimes ... unprecedented in history.", and North Korea went as far as proclaiming the Suharto government a "military fascist regime" and expressed negative views towards the actions of the Army. The UN, however, avoided commenting on the mass killings, and when Suharto attempted to return to the Indonesian seat in the UN, communist Albania was the only member to