Empirical Investigation of Millennial Perception Towards Past Human Rights Abuses in Indonesia

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates millennials perception on the series of human rights violations that occurredin Indonesia from1965 to 1966, in the aftermath of Gerakan 30 September(G30S). The model emphasisesthe role of commonly perceived traits of millennial and the theory of social internalisationof human rights in predicting individual attitude towards past grave human rights abuses. Throughsnowball sampling, this survey-based research managed to collect 318 respondents associated themselves with the referred traits.While the considerateamount of respondent claimed to retain the traits, such upbringing does not strongly correspond with their attitude on two keyhuman rights issues: 1) the recognition of abuses in post-G30S and 2) the victims’ right to remedy facilitated by the 1956 International People Tribunal. The analysis instead yields new insight where millennial status as diaspora, or living abroad from Indonesia, is a better predictor for millennial attitude on the two featured issues.