It’s the morning of 14 May 1987, just after 10am, and I am becoming upset that the phone isn’t working, when my neighbour calls out, “The news is on the radio, the army has taken over the government.

“They have cut the phone.”

I should be shocked but I am not because the climate has been politically unstable with a rising tide of indigenous Fijian extremism.

I change quickly and rush down the road for a taxi. The newspaper is at least half an hour away outside Suva, at the Fiji Sun where I work and also string as correspondent for New Zealand Press Association.

I must get the story out, but how?

The phone’s been “killed” but the Southern Cross cable has been left untouched connecting Fiji to NZ, Australia and USA.

Front page via telex
Using telex I get my story out in time to make the front page of the Evening Post in New Zealand. That story includes an interview with the taxi driver who took me to work.

That coup d’etat by Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka spawned other coups and Fiji has never been the same again.

As for me, 13 years and two more coups later, I took my young family out of Fiji and settled in New Zealand.

A brief reflection by prominent Fiji journalist Jale Moala who worked for the original Fiji Sun at the time of the first coup by Rabuka, and was editor of the Fiji Daily Post at the time of the third coup by George Speight in 2000.

Stop press: Rabuka on comeback trail
In Auckland today, former Pacific Media Watch contributing editor Alistar Kata at radio 531pi talks to Sitiveni Rabuka, who is trying to make a political comeback in this year’s Fiji elections as leader of the main opposition party SODELPA.

She comments:

Sitiveni Rabuka is a polarising figure, best known for instigating two military coups in Fiji in 1987.

And this picture looks like “we just signed an MOU for world peace”.

(He wanted to shake hands so I just went along with it).

The Intercept, co-founded by Glenn Greenwald, a journalist known for his stories about the US National Security Agency’s mass surveillance, published the story earlier this week.

Citing intelligence documents, unnamed generals and protest leaders, it alleges that huge protests in Jakarta against the capital’s minority Christian governor Ba­suki “Ahok” Tja­haja Pur­nama — defeated in this week’s election — were a front for a movement to unseat Jokowi.

READ MORE: Trump’s Indonesian allies in bed with ISIS-backed militia seeking to oust elected president

READ MORE: Indonesian military denies ‘coup’ claim

The military’s statement yesterday said an account of The Intercept story, written by investigative journalist Allan Nairn, translated and published by the Indonesian site Tirto, was either “not true” or a “hoax”.

It said it was reporting Tirto so it could be “investigated and proceeded against in line with existing laws”.

Democracy Now!‘s Amy Goodman has interviewed Allan Nairn and writes:

“Nairn reveals Indonesians involved in the coup attempt include a corporate lawyer working for the mining company Freeport-McMoRan [which owns the controversial Freeport mine in West Papua], which is controlled by Donald Trump adviser Carl Icahn.

Video has even emerged showing the lawyer at a ceremony where men are swearing allegiance to ISIS. According to Allan Nairn, two of the other most prominent supporters of the coup are close associates of Donald Trump: Fadli Zon, the vice-speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, and Hary Tanoe, Trump’s primary Indonesian business partner, who’s building two Trump resorts, one in Bali and one outside Jakarta.

“Nairn’s article is making waves in Indonesia. The Indonesian military is threatening legal action against the news portal tirto.id, after it published a partial translation of the article and ran a profile about Allan Nairn.

“In response, Nairn tweeted a message to the Indonesian military, saying, quote, ‘Dear TNI: If you want to threaten brave Indonesian reporters and publishers, please threaten me too,’ unquote.”

In the interview with Democracy Now!, Nairn said:

“Indonesia is in the midst of a political crisis, in that there is an attempt to stage what people on both sides of the conflict call the coup. And this is a de facto, or even direct, coup against the elected president, the elected government of Indonesia, which is headed by President Widodo — Jokowi.

“Jokowi was the first person from outside the political elite who ever was elected president. He’s—on certain issues, in certain respects, he’s a bit of a reformist.

“He got elected, in an important part because he speaks the language of the poor, and people relate to him. He has been pushing social programs on health and education.

“But, especially in recent months, his government has been fighting for survival. Those backing this coup project include the top generals in the country, who are seeking to escape any whisper of accountability for their past mass murders — mass murders that have been supported by the US — and for their ongoing atrocities in West Papua, also the friends and business partners and political associates of Donald Trump.

“The local Trump people in Indonesia, including his top political backer, the politician Fadli Zon, including his local business partner, Hary Tanoe, and others, have been funding and backing this coup movement.”The instrument they have been using is a—what purports to be a radical Islamist street movement, which has been staging massive demonstrations on the streets of Jakarta, demonstrations drawing out hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people.

“And their hook is what they claimed to be a religious issue, where they are attacking and demanding the death by hanging of the incumbent governor of Jakarta, who happens to be an ethnic Chinese Christian who is currently standing trial for insulting religion, for insulting Islam.

“And he could actually be sent to prison.”

• The Intercept article on the alleged coup plot
• Prosecutors spare Ahok after election defeat
• Asian Correspondent article carries military denial

Wiranto replaces General (Ret.) Luhut Pandjaitan.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, told the media that Wiranto was appointed “because he had been well-tested and was experienced in resolving various assignments, especially during the transition period from the New Order to the Reform era in the late 1990s”.

The cabinet secretary neglected to mention that Wiranto’s experience includes a “long and dark record of human rights violations” for which he has never been held accountable, said the three rights groups in a joint statement.

The statement contunued:

“President Jokowi must annul his appointment of Wiranto and instead bring him to justice,” said Basilisa Dengen from Watch Indonesia!

“John M. Miller for the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) called the Wiranto appointment ‘an outrage’. He added that ‘Jokowi has clearly abandoned all pretence to concern about accountability and justice for past human rights crimes’.

Timor-Leste indictment
“Wiranto is the most senior Indonesian official indicted in 2003 by the United Nations’ Serious Crimes Unit, which was a section of the Office of the General Prosecutor of Timor-Leste (East Timor).

“The appointment of Wiranto as a coordinating minister confirms that Jokowi does not consider human rights as a priority of his government. This is not the first time Jokowi [has] appointed military generals with poor human rights records to his administration. Victims and human rights organisations have been waiting for Jokowi to fulfill his election promises to resolve a number of past and present human rights violations.

“‘By installing a human rights violator to a key security position, President Jokowi has insulted our sense for justice. He has turned his back to the victims, survivors and their families, and universal respect to human rights,’ said Adriana Sri Adhiati of TAPOL.”

“TAPOL, ETAN, and Watch Indonesia! urge President Joko Widowo to prove his commitment to uphold human rights and resolve past human rights abuses. It is long overdue for the Indonesian government to reveal the truth and provide justice and reparations to the victims of human rights violations.

“The groups also urge the Indonesian government to work with the Timor-Leste government to promote accountability for human rights violations in Indonesia and East Timor, particularly by implementing the recommendations of CAVR ( Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation) and CTF (Commission for Truth and Friendship).

“The groups also called for President Joko Widodo to apply a strict vetting policy before the appointment of his ministers in order to realise a respectable and competent government.”

Background
East Timor was a former colony of Portugal that Indonesia illegally invaded and occupied in 1975. The UN conducted a referendum on the question of independence in 1999.

After the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly to reject Indonesian rule, Indonesian security forces and militia under Wiranto’s command destroyed most of the territory’s infrastructure, killed more than 1000 independence supporters and forcibly deported more than 250,000 people to West Timor.

The indictment alleges that under international law, General Wiranto, at the time Minister of Defence and chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces, was responsible for crimes against humanity for failing to punish or prevent crimes, including murder and persecution, committed by his subordinates or those acting under his effective control in the period before and after the 1999 popular consultation in East Timor.

The indictment is outstanding but no trial has been held.

The indictment was accompanied by an application for a warrant of arrest, meaning that Wiranto and other indicted military officers face the possibility of arrest and extradition to Timor-Leste should they travel outside of Indonesia.

In 2002, the government of Indonesia set up an Ad-Hoc Human Rights Court for East Timor to hear cases of human rights abuses committed in 1999 in East Timor. However, Wiranto was excluded from list of suspects.

Wiranto was also the commander in-charge when the shootings of Trisakti University students in Semanggi took place, shortly followed by the violent riots of May 1998, which are believed to be the work of of the military. Many student activists are still missing.

The National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) conducted a pro justicia investigation that concluded that the army commander was responsible for these crimes against humanity. Wiranto refused to participate in the investigation.

Despite his indictment, Wiranto – who once said that the atrocities in 1999 resulted from internal conflict in East Timor with no involvement from the Indonesian military – plays a prominent role in Indonesian politics.

He ran for president in 2004 and 2009 and served the chair of the Hanura Party (People’s Conscience Party), which won 5.26 percent of the national vote in the last election and joined with other parties supporting Jokowi’s run for the presidency.

East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) (www.etan.org)
Tapol (www.tapol.org)
Watch Indonesia! ( www.watchindonesia.org)

Indonesia’s Golkar party wants former strongman General Suharto to be declared a national hero. In the Philippines, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is in favor of burying the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a heroes’ cemetery.

Supporters of Suharto and Marcos believe they deserve to be recognised as heroes in their respective countries but human rights groups insist the two leaders are dictators not worthy of emulation.

Suharto, known as the “Smiling General”, ruled the country for 32 years until a student-led uprising forced him to step down in 1998. He died ten years later.

In 2010, his name was floated as a possible nominee in the annual recognition of national heroes. It was not approved by the government but the proposal was revived again last year.

A government agency is studying the nomination but President Joko Widodo will have the final decision when he appoints new national heroes in November.

Supporters assert that Suharto’s leadership brought stability and prosperity in the country. When he was removed from power, Indonesia’s economy was already the biggest in Southeast Asia.

But critics accused Suharto of being an authoritarian leader who committed widespread atrocities to silence the opposition. He and his family are also known for plundering the nation’s wealth.

Misused state funds
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered Suharto’s family to pay $325 million after one of Suharto’s foundations was found guilty of misusing state funds to bankroll various business transactions.

During Suharto’s rise to power, more than half a million suspected communists and their sympathisers were allegedly killed and arrested by the military. There are various initiatives today which seek to determine the truth about this dark period in Indonesia’s modern history.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the proposal to bury Marcos in a heroes’ cemetery continues to be a divisive issue.

Like Suharto, Marcos ruled as a strongman for two decades until he was ousted by a peaceful “People Power” uprising in 1986. He declared Martial Law in 1972 to save the republic from the communist threat but his rivals think it was merely a ruse to extend his term.

Marcos is accused of using the military to intimidate the opposition. Thousands became victims of human rights violations such as torture, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.

Marcos is also known to have amassed ill-gotten properties which he entrusted to cronies and family members.

He died in 1989 in Hawaii. His body is interred in a private air conditioned mausoleum in his home province while his family continues to seek a hero’s burial in Manila.

‘Golden age’
Supporters of Marcos refer to the Martial Law years as the Philippines’ “golden age” because the country supposedly enjoyed peace and economic boom. They add that as a former World War II soldier and elected president, Marcos has the right to be buried in the heroes’ cemetery.

The newly-elected president endorses a hero’s burial for Marcos since it would lead to national healing and reconciliation. But outgoing President Benigno Aquino II rejects the proposal by emphasising that the heroes’ cemetery is “reserved for people worthy of praise and emulation”.

Suharto and Marcos died several years ago, but their legacy is still being debated. They were humiliated when they were ousted from power yet their names have undergone rehabilitation in recent years.

How did this happen? At least two factors are immediately apparent.

First, their subordinates and cronies are still influential in the bureaucracy. But second and equally importantly, those who succeeded them have failed to convincingly demonstrate to the people the effectiveness of a democratic system in delivering economic development and confronting remaining political and social challenges.

Things like poverty and political gridlock are still realities in both Indonesia and the Philippines, making many yearn for a time where decisive leadership can offer a quicker fix.

Meanwhile, supporters of Suharto and Marcos are happy to exploit public frustration to promote historical revisionism.

It is not simply enough to resist proposals recognising Suharto and Marcos as national heroes. The more important question that requires urgent answering is this: Why are an increasing number of Indonesians and Filipinos still open to naming both dictators as heroes?

Mong Palatino is a Diplomat columnist, regular blogger and Global Voices regional editor for Southeast Asia and Oceania. This is republished from The Diplomat with permission.