The Petrus killings were a series of

extrajudicial executions An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

that occurred between 1983 and 1985 under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...

's New Order regime. Without undergoing a trial, thousands of criminals and other offenders were killed by undercover

Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its ...

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

s and

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

s. Their bodies were then placed in public places which terrorized an unaware populace. The executions were part of a government effort to reduce crime and estimates of the death toll have ranged from 300 to 10,000.

Origin of name

The term ''Petrus'' is derived from the Indonesian

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

containing the words ''penembak misterius'' (mysterious shooter), referring the undercover and anonymous nature of the death squads. It is also known colloquially as "''dar der dor''", which is an Indonesian

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

for the sound of a gunshot. ''Petrus'' is also Indonesian version of the name

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Background

came to power in 1967 and created his New Order policy to separate his regime from what he called the ''Old Order'' of his predecessor

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

. The new policies brought much change to Indonesia, including a stronger, more influential

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. This often led to violence and the Petrus killings stand as one of the most egregious examples. The killings are cited as a prominent trait of the New Order's authoritarian rule, and was once likened to 1972 martial law in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

History

In the early 1980s, Indonesian citizens began witnessing an increase of dead bodies in public. At first, the government and other security authorities would not reveal the cause or reason behind the deaths. Commander of Indonesia's Armed Forces, General

Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani General (Ret.) Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani (also publicly known as LB Moerdani or Benny Moerdani and in foreign media as Murdani; 2 October 1932 – 29 August 2004) was the ABRI Commander from 1983 to 1988 and also served as Indonesia's Min ...

initially blamed the killings on gang wars. Moerdani later claimed the government committed the murders, but that "some were gunned down by security men, but it was because they resisted arrest." Unannounced to the public, the Petrus killings were carried out as a form of "shock therapy" to reduce the crime rate. The operation was planned in March 1983 by the

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

garrison commander Lt. Col. Mochamad Hasbi. Soon, it wouldp spread; some criminals surrendered, some were shot, some fled and others quit a life of crime. Many of the victims had tattoos, which made it apparent to the public their status as criminals. The Petrus Killings caused crime to drop significantly, which led the government to expand the killings. Petrus was a game changer in Indonesia, making an ultimatum to the public. Police intelligence supplied the garrison commander with a list naming hundreds of suspected criminals and ex-prisoners in the region. The garrison then put together a black list and issued a public ultimatum to all galis (without, however, naming names) to "surrender immediately" to the garrison headquarters. Those who did, and these numbered several hundred, were required to fill out detailed forms, providing their life history as well as data on all their family members and friends. They were also required to sign statements agreeing to refrain from criminal activities or face "firm action" from the authorities. Each gali was obliged to carry a special card and report to the garrison on a regular basis. Those who did not turn up to be registered, or did not keep their appointments with the garrison, were hunted down and killed by squads of military men. As the list was shrouded in mystery, citizens had to question themselves if they were "criminals" and potentially on the list. This self-surveillance tactic made people very aware of their actions and tread carefully during this period. Moreover, unlike many other issues in Indonesia, nothing, not even money or powerful connections could erase a name off the mysterious list. However, some have argued that there was no actual list and this tactic lead to the police identifying criminals based on their registration. Suharto himself would not acknowledge the killings and the fact that they were carried out by the military until his biography, ''Pikiran, Ucapan, dan Tindakan Saya'' (''My Thoughts, Words, and Deeds'') was published in 1988. In the book, Suharto explains: "The incidents were not mysterious. The real problem was that the incidents were preceded by public fears." Because some people had exceeded norms in society, "we had to initiate some treatment, some stern action", Suharto claimed. "What kind of action? Well, we had to resort to force. But it was not just execution by shootings. No! Those who resisted had to be shot. They were gunned down because they fought back."

Aftermath

No specific death toll from the Petrus killings has been established. In 1983, it was estimated that 300 corpses were found throughout Indonesia. Due to the fact that many criminals were still missing, that number is likely inaccurate and understated. Indonesian

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

Mulyana W. Kusumah placed the death toll at more than 2,000. In 1984,

Hans van den Broek Henri "Hans" van den Broek (; born 11 December 1936) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as List of Euro ...

, the former Foreign Minister of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, asked the Indonesian government to place the death toll around 3,000. Other reports put the death toll around 10,000. Research continues to reveal the extent of the Petrus Killings and how they applied to anti-crime efforts in many major Indonesian cities. Operations against criminals in the late 1980s had police claiming they would not be following the earlier pattern.

Origin of name

Background

History

Aftermath

References

Further reading