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Fact check

Is it true: Indonesia 1965 Mass Killings: CIA Support for the Anti-Communist Purge?

Confirmed88% confidence

Yes — this is confirmed.

The 1965–66 Indonesian mass killings — 500,000 to one million dead following the September 30 coup attempt — are documented historical fact. Declassified 2017 State Department and CIA cables confirm that CIA/US Embassy officers provided lists of suspected PKI members to the Indonesian military, that US officials expressed support for the killings, and that material support was supplied. The characterisation of the CIA as directly orchestrating the killings overstates the documented evidence; complicity is confirmed. No Indonesian government has formally prosecuted those responsible.

The claim

Following the September 30, 1965 attempted coup against President Sukarno — in which six Indonesian Army generals were killed — General Suharto led a military counter-move that became the pretext for

Key evidence

Declassified 2017 cables confirm CIA/Embassy provided lists of PKI members to Indonesian military

CIA did not directly plan or execute the killings

Read the full evidence file

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