![Supardjo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Supardjo.jpg)
Mustafa Sjarief Soepardjo (23 March 1923 – 16 May 1970), also known as Supardjo, was a Brigadier General in the
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 ...
. He was one of the leaders of the
30 September Movement
The Thirtieth of September Movement ( id, Gerakan 30 September, abbreviated as G30S, also known by the acronym Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Na ...
, a group that killed six of the army's top generals and launched a failed coup attempt on 30 September 1965.
Biography
Soepardjo was regimental commander of the
Siliwangi Division
Military Regional Command III/Siliwangi ( id, Komando Daerah Militer III/Siliwangi or Kodam III/Siliwangi) is an Indonesian Army Regional Military Command that covers Banten and West Java province.
The division was formed during the Indonesian ...
which was stationed in
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
. As a result of his pro-Communist sympathies and actions, he was sent to
Kalimantan
Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo.
In 2019, ...
, away from the centres of power on
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
, and took part in the Indonesian actions against British and Malaysian troops in Borneo (see ''
Konfrontasi''). Based at Menggaian in
West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city is Pontianak, Indonesia, Pontianak. The province has ...
, he led the Fourth Combat Command of
KOSTRAD
The Army Strategic Reserves Command ( id, Komando Cadangan Strategis Angkatan Darat; abbreviated ) is a combined-arms formation of the Indonesian Army. Kostrad is a Corps level command which has up to 35,000 troops. It also supervises operati ...
, the army's strategic reserve.
On 28 September 1965, he left his post without the knowledge of then KOSTRAD commander,
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 ...
(later
President of Indonesia
The President of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Presiden Republik Indonesia) is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president leads the executive branch of the Indonesian government and is ...
). He had received a telegram from his wife stating that his child was sick. At Soepardjo's trial in 1967, an ex-Communist official testified that the cable was code between Soepardjo and Communist participating in the coup, and that the real reason for his return to Java was to help command the coup.
Some Soepardjo's military colleagues reported he was resentful over his slow pace of promotion and may have had a grudge against army commander,
General Yani, who was one of the 30 September Movement's principal victims. According to General
Sarwo Edhie Wibowo
Lieutenant General (Ret.) Sarwo Edhie Wibowo (25 July 1925 – 9 November 1989) was an Indonesian military leader and the father of Kristiani Herrawati, the former first lady of Indonesia and the wife of president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a ...
, commander of the fiercely anti-communist RPKAD para-commandos, Soepardjo requested RPKAD reinforcements be sent to Kalimantan on 1 October. When Sarwo Edhie heard of the coup attempt, the sailing orders to Kalimantan were cancelled.
After the failure of the coup, Soepardjo went into hiding. He was eventually arrested on January 12, 1967. He was found guilty of
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
, sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on May 16, 1970.
The Soepardjo Document
Background
In the years following the failure of the
30 September Movement
The Thirtieth of September Movement ( id, Gerakan 30 September, abbreviated as G30S, also known by the acronym Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Na ...
, General Soepardjo wrote an analysis of the movement, titled Some Factors That Influenced the Defeat of ‘the September 30th Movement’ as Viewed from a Military Perspective. A copy of these personal notes, now known as the ‘Soepardjo Document’, was intercepted by military officers and added to the records of the military court that tried Soepardjo in 1967. In the document, Soepardjo reflects on what may have caused the September 30th Movement to fail, based upon his military experience and what he witnessed throughout the event.
Importance
Soepardjo wrote this document while on the run as he had already been stripped of his rank and dismissed from the military. This key fact is what gives the document its importance, and historian John Roosa notes that the document may be the most important primary source on the movement. The Soepardjo Document is the only primary source which was written by a participant of the September 30th Movement before his arrest. The fact that the document was written before he was arrested means that there was no chance for the military to influence his testimony unlike those from other generals, which led to many unreliable narratives as most of their stories were either coerced through torture or fabricated by the media.
Before the movement, Soepardjo was a highly decorated military officer. He was the highest ranking officer to participate in the movement as Commander of the Fourth Combat Command of the Mandala Vigilance Command. Many are quick to assume that Soepardjo had a significant role in planning the movement due to the fact that he was the highest ranking officer; however, he confesses in the document that he only arrived in Jakarta three days before the event.
Soepardjo’s role within the movement is a unique one as he can be viewed both as an outsider and insider. Being stationed along the border between Indonesia and Malaysia in the months leading up to the movement, he could not have been too heavily involved in the planning of the movement. The fact that he was not directly involved in the planning and was not too close with many of the other planning generals assigns him more of the role of the detached spectator. There were plenty of detached spectators of the time who could have given their opinions on the movement, but it is Soepardjo’s additional role as an insider that makes his document reliable. Once the movement was initiated, Soepardjo and the core organizers made plans for how they should proceed at their hideout at Halim Air Base. Furthermore, the fact that the core organizers also trusted Soepardjo to talk to the president on their behalf proves that they believed him to be an essential asset to their plans.
The basis of the Soepardjo document is an explanation of why Soepardjo believed the movement was a failure, but it also provides reliable information on the leadership of the movement and answers many questions that historians have had for a long time. With regards to the leadership of the movement, Soepardjo clears up the common misconception that he was the leader of the movement by stressing that he neither commanded any of the troops that were supplied by other organizers of the movement nor supplied any troops. Soepardjo concluded that the movement was in fact led, “by the party” since he knew of Sjam’s role as a representative of the PKI. While there were questions for a long time over who truly led the movement stemming from a questionable claim of responsibility from Sjam at his trial, Soepardjo states that there were three levels of leadership heading the movement. The first level was the head group which he believes consisted of the PKI Leadership, followed by the second level which was Sjam and his friends which made up the Special Bureau, and finally followed by Colonel
Untung and the other military officers.
Since he was not involved in the planning meetings, Soepardjo’s role as an outsider could cast doubt on the accuracy of the document. This lack of involvement could have led to unfamiliarity about the movement and the party itself, which does cause some discrepancies in his document, such as the number and purpose of sectors that Jakarta was divided into. Soepardjo had said that there were 3 sectors, whose purpose were to provide food to the troops. Njono, the head of the PKI in Jakarta, however, recalled that there were 6 sectors, each of which were to be provided food by the troops.
However, Soepardjo’s status as the highest ranking officer and direct contact with the core group of organizers makes this document reliable enough to draw accurate conclusions from.
Contents
Soepardjo cites a number of reasons for the failure of the movement. Primarily, he notes that the movement had neither an overall leader nor a clear chain of command. There was a loose structure in the cooperation between the PKI and the military, and the two groups were constantly arguing over courses of strategic action, which led to moments of indecisiveness during critical points in the movement.
However, Soepardjo later reveals in the document that the PKI was the true body behind the movement, and for that reason, he believes
Kamaruzaman Sjam Kamaruzaman Sjam (30 April 1924 – 30 September 1986), also known as Kamarusaman bin Achmad Mubaidah and Sjam, was a key member of the Communist Party of Indonesia who was executed for his part in the 1965 coup attempt known as the 30 September ...
played the leading role. He viewed Sjam as an arrogant and stubborn individual who was both stiff to criticism and adamant that the movement would not fail. Sjam had falsely assumed that troops throughout Indonesia were ready to revolt. He wanted the movement to be “the fuse of a bomb rather than the bomb itself”, and hoped that the movement would incite large-scale rebellions nationwide. However, the leaders of the movement did not verify beforehand that the PKI masses were ready to respond to any military action.
Another failure that Soepardjo mentions is that the organizers of the movement did not have a backup plan in case the movement did not succeed. Not only was there no backup plan, but the original plan itself was not fully complete. Furthermore, when
Ahmad Yani
General Ahmad Yani (19 June 1922 – 1 October 1965) was the Commander of the Indonesian Army, and was killed by members of the 30 September Movement during an attempt to kidnap him from his house.
Early life
Ahmad Yani was born in Jenar, ...
, the supreme army commander, was assassinated during the movement, Sukarno chose
Pranoto Reksosamudro
Major General Pranoto Reksosamodra (16 April 1923 – 9 June 1992) was an Indonesian Army general who was briefly army chief of staff and was detained for 15 years without trial for alleged involvement in the 30 September Movement coup a ...
to be his replacement, but Pranoto did not assert the power that Sukarno vested in him and failed to oppose Suharto for control of the army. Had Pranoto done so, Soepardjo suggests that the movement could have been saved.
Notes
References
*
* {{Cite book , last = Roosa , first = John , title = Pretext for Mass Murder , publisher = University of Wisconsin Press , year = 2006 , isbn = 029-9220-34-6
Transition to the New Order
1923 births
1970 deaths
Indonesian generals
Indonesian Muslims