Donate to Remember 1965

Watch65 Association is organising this fundraiser.

Sixty long years have passed. For Indonesia, 1965 was a defining moment in history. In response to a failed coup allegedly launched by the Indonesian communist party, a massively-orchestrated demolition of the Indonesian Left ensued. Unspeakable state sponsored violence was inflicted on a mass scale, along with the construction of enduring yet wrongful official narratives that continue to obstruct truth and justice. The beginning of Soeharto’s repressive regime, 1965 also marked the harbinger of a culture of impunity that still reigns in Indonesia today.

We are Watch65, a Netherlands-based voluntary association that is committed to the ongoing fight to uphold justice for the victims of gross violations of human rights in Indonesia. Focusing our endeavors on 1965, Watch65 is a collective that brings together activists, writers, researchers and political exiles themselves. Our work started with our members’ participation as volunteers that organized the landmark International People’s Tribunal on Crimes Against Humanity in Indonesia 1965 in 2015. In the final report, the judges presiding during the tribunal considered it established that the Indonesian state—through its military and police arms—committed and encouraged grave human rights violations on a systematic and widespread basis.

To honor 1965’s 60th anniversary, we are planning a week-long commemoration event in September 2025. It will feature a memorial exhibition and a series of panel discussions. These events are set to be held in Amsterdam, in collaboration with Universiteit van Amsterdam, the International Institute of Social History (IISG Amsterdam), and Framer Framed. Both will highlight the topic of solidarity and resistance as they remember the lives of Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands, and the solidarity of Dutch initiatives that relentlessly worked to bring into public attention the crimes committed by the Indonesian state under Soeharto’s rule.

During the commemoration week, we will launch two important works that we currently work on. The first is a documentary film on Komitee Indonesië, an Amsterdam-based solidarity group that played an important role in the trans-border resistance against Soeharto’s New Order regime. The second is GerakIngatan, an archive-based website (in Indonesian) dedicated to keep memories of the Indonesian leftist movements alive. These two products attest to Watch65’s unflinching belief in storytelling as a powerful tool for resistance.

As both Indonesia and the world at large move dangerously toward the extreme right, your support is urgently needed in order to make the commemoration happen. The funding landscape for activism and knowledge production has been significantly altered by the current political climate. Our true recourse has always been with individuals who care, like you.

We need to raise 2200 euros for the commemoration before July 31, 2025 and we urgently appeal to you as an ally. Your donation will go primarily to the organizing of the exhibition and financing the film’s post-production stage. The full proposals could be accessed on the following links. Watch65 is a registered non-profit in the Netherlands, and all financial expenses would be publicly accounted for.

More detailed questions about the exhibition and the documentary could be directed to the website https://gerakingatan.omeka.net/]. Please send your donation to: NL92 INGB 0008203497 (account name: Watch65). No contribution is too small. Never is the time for despair.

Help us in the battle against forgetting (melawan lupa). Hidup korban. Long live the victims. Jangan diam. Don’t be silent.

Lawan. Resist!