TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tens of thousands of anti-communist youths were trained to take part in military operations aimed at eliminating the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Budi Yuwono Imam Chourmain, 73, is a former Islamic Student Association (HMI) activist and former member of the Gadjah Mada University Students Regiment, a group recruited by Army Special Forces Regiment (RPKAD) commander, Sarwo Edhie Wibowo. Budi Yuwono trained with the RPKAD at their special training camp at Batujajar.
For three and a half years, he abandoned his university studies to hunt down communists. When Suharto proclaimed that the operation to wipe out the PKI had been achieved, Budi bid Sarwo Edhie goodbye and went back to school. The following are excerpts of Budi's story as told toTempo. He asked that some parts of the story remain unpublished.
What were you studying at that time and how did you get involved in military operations?
In 1962, I studied economics at Gadjah Mada University (UGM). Even then, the environment was already tense. The campus and the lecturers were dominated by the GMNI (Indonesians' National Student Movement) and the CGMI (Unified Movement of Students of Indonesia). There was obvious and systemic discrimination against Islamic students, particularly HMI (the Islamic Students Association) activists. All the classroom seats were always taken and we had to sit at the back and were denied books at the library. Students suspected each other. It was very unpleasant.
In September 27, 1965, there was a Student Sports Week at Senayan Stadium in Jakarta. I took part in the athletics, which was held early in the week, so I had some spare time to look in on my uncle, Maj. Gen. Sutoyo. His wife was a cousin of my mother. I arrived at their home late in the morning, but Oom Toyo had not left for work yet. He usually left very early in the morning, so I wondered why.
After sharing breakfast with them, my uncle pulled me into his work room, and told me, "I know that you're a member of the HMI, so I feel I must warn you about the current political situation in Indonesia." He ended by cautioning me, "If there are any unexplained activities, that would be the PKI..."
At the end of September, Aidit spoke at the Congress of Indonesian Engineers, in which he said, "If the HMI cannot be disbanded, the PKI might as well be wearing sarungs (a reference to the traditional clothing of Muslims Ed.)." The order to disband the HMI, signed by Deputy Prime Minister Subandrio, was torn up by (Army commander) Ahmad Yani, who stated, "Over my dead body will the HMI be disbanded." The PKI feared the HMI because it had strong members with leadership qualities.
What did you do then?
I went home to Yogya(karta), arriving there on the morning of September 28 and immediately headed towards the HMI branch headquarters at Ngabean. There, I relayed the information my uncle had shared with me. The Yogya HMI head at that time was Sudarji and I told him the situation was getting really tense. If something happened, we would have to go to war. If we lost, we would go underground.
On the morning of October 1, I heard over Radio Australia that a council of generals had carried out a coup d'etat, and that my uncle, Maj. Gen. Sutoyo, had been killed. I told myself, "This is the work of the PKI." I ran towards the HMI headquarters, to which coincidentally, one has to pass by the PKI office. I saw hundreds of their members, all clad in black, gathered in front of the building. Meanwhile, HMI members had also consolidated among themselves. For days the city was tense. We didn't know who were our friends, who were our foes.
How did you get involved in anti-PKI activities?
I became afraid after a friend in intelligence found a PKI document with a list people they had to eliminate and at the head of it was my name: Budi Yuwono. It said I was in the intelligence section of the UGM Mahakarta Student Regiment. I was just a regular HMI member, not in the organizing committee at all. I suspected it was the work of my high school friend, Dharmoko, who at the time was secretary of CGMI in Yogyakarta. He knew well about my life in Semarang, where I grew up.
My father, Abu Umar, was secretary of the Central Java Masyumi (Council of Indonesian Muslim Associations), a major Islamic party. My uncle was killed by the PKI at Blora, during the Madiun Affair in 1948. At the time, I was in first grade of a public elementary school. My family lived close to the Madiun town square, so I know well how the PKI behaved at that time. I know that Musso was burnt alive. So at the end of the day, I had to choose, kill or be killed.
Were you recruited by Sarwo Edhi Wibowo when he went around Central Java and Yogyakarta?
Look, when I handled intelligence at the UGM Mahakarta Students Regiment, my headquarters was located at the military camp. When Pak Sarwo visited the Pamungkas military camp, I was introduced to him by the camp commander, Col. Mulyono. Pak Sarwo interviewed me and when I told him that I was the nephew of Maj. Gen. Sutoyo, I was immediately asked to join. It was the end of October 1965, and not long after that, I was sent for training at the Army Special Forces camp at Batujajar, probably the only student recruited. I didn't recognize anyone among the groups being trained. Many HMI students were trained, but in their local areas. The number of people the army recruited was small. In my training group, there were 196 people, only three were non-military. Two failed, I was the only one to pass the tests. The training was tough. We crossed the Anakan Sea (towards Nusakambangan). We walked all the way to Batujajar, were never given weapons, just a commando knife, a compass and a map. We carried rifles with no bullets.
Where did you go after the training?
After receiving my papers, I immediately joined Pak Sarwo's troops. I was tasked with intelligence (duties) and continued on until the end of the Trisula Operation at southern Blitar.
How many youths were trained by the local military regiment and the RPKAD?
Many. We trained tens of thousands of youths from Java and Bali. The training consisted of marching, learning about ideology, and how to use weapons. At the Kandang Menjangan camp in Kartasura, for example, we gathered youths from the many local organizations, from Muhammadiyah to Ansor (Nahdlatul Ulama youth group). We didn't know who they were, that was the military's business. The training was aimed at setting up an opposition force against the PKI. At the time, the youths had no idea they were expected to kill. As part of their training at Kandang Menjangan, they were told to attack and stab at sacks with something in it. What they didn't know was they were filled with real people, blood spurting out of the sacks after they pierced them. Who they killed, they never knew. Usually, after such an initiation, the youths acquired the courage to kill.
How long did the training sessions last?
About three or four days. Not everyone were given weapons, usually LE (UK-made Lee Enfield rifles). They were remnants of the 1945 fight against the Dutch. AK-47s were used later on, but only by the troops.
As an intelligence person, did you have a list of student activists involved with the PKI?
No. The task of purging the campus was given to the rector.
But you did take part in their interrogation?
Yes, we interrogated them one by one. One PKI cadre was a tough GTM (unwilling to talk). But I had a special way of getting around it. I would tie their hands and feet, then I would place a beetle on their belly-button and cover it with an ashtray. Ninety percent of the time it worked. Less than five minutes later they would start talking. I was taught that technique by my cousin Haki Charomain, a soldier stationed in Aceh during the September 30 Movement. The interrogation results of category A prisoners were sent to Jakarta. I will admit that we may have made mistakes because of inaccurate data. The suspects may not all be PKI members. But like farmers faced with a list of BTI (leftist farmers organization), they didn't dare deny it.
Did you personally take part in an execution?
Yes. One day, we were told to drive prisoners to Wirogunan prison (Yogyakarta), but it was full so we headed towards the one at Klaten, which was also full, as was the prison in Solo. We were then ordered to turn back. Midway, between Delanggu and Klaten, our truck stopped in the middle of a paddy field. We asked the prisoners whether they wanted to urinate. When they got down, one prisoner tried to escape, so we shot them all. Of the 50 prisoners in the truck, none were left alive. Before we resumed, the truck driver asked where his helper was. We had to tell him that he had decided to run with the prisoners, so he got shot too. (*)
Sumber: Majalah Tempo English
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