Lubang Buaya

Lubang Buaya is the suburb on the South East part of Jakarta which is also the site of the murder of seven Indonesian army officers during the 1 October coup attempt of the 30 September Movement. It is located on the outskirts of Jakarta near the Halim Perdanakusumah Air Force Base.HistoryOn 31 May 1965, President Sukarno called for the establishment of a "fifth force", in addition to the three existing armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) and the police, to be made up of workers and peasants. This attracted strong opposition from Army commander Ahmad Yani, but soon training commenced at the swampy region near Halim called Lubang Buaya. It was under the control of Major Sujono, commander of the Halim base ground defense. Among the participants were members of the PKI-affiliated youth group Pemuda Rakyat.In the early hours of 1 October 1965, members of the 30 September Movement, left their base at Lubang Buaya on a mission to kidnap seven generals, all members of the Army General Staff. Later that night, they returned bringing the bodies of three of the generals who had been killed in the kidnap attempts as well as four living prisoners. The survivors were subsequently killed, and all seven bodies thrown down a disused well.On 4 October, the bodies were recovered using special equipment. Suharto personally supervised the operation.During the New Order regime, a ceremony attended by the president and senior officials was held every year on 1 October.The Monument and MuseumsThe New Order regime built a large monument, which opened in 1969, called the "Sacred Pancasila Monument". It comprises life-size bronze statues of : (from left to right)