While the behaviour of Indonesian forces in East Timor has been the focus of this week's visit to Jakarta by UN Secretary general, Mr Kofi Annan, the Indonesian government is quietly widening its investigations of the past to include other military misdeeds.
In particular, it is looking into one of the most cynical episodes of the Suharto era, the 1996 attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in Jakarta, a huge blunder which many believe led to the dictator's downfall two years later.
The investigation, along with new inquiries into unsolved killings during President Suharto's reign, is forcing the country of over 200 million - and particularly its armed forces - to confront its often violent history.
In 1966 the PDI was led by Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, now Indonesia's Vice-President. She had replaced a pro-Suharto figure called Soerjadi (Indonesians often have only one name) who for years had ensured the party did not become a problem for the government. Under Ms Megawati the PDI was gaining in popularity as an opposition force and even threatening the electoral monopoly of the Golkar party, a political machine created by Suharto to give his regime the appearance of democracy. To get rid of Ms Megawati, the government stage-managed a factional PDI leadership congress in the northern city of Medan at which Soerjadi was "reinstated".
Ms Megawati and her supporters refused to leave party headquarters in central Jakarta, and during July 1996 large crowds began to gather every day for Free Speech Forums. On July 23rd, the Armed Forces Commander, Gen Feisal Tanjung, ordered a halt to the demonstrations but Ms Megawati refused to back down. On July 27th supporters of Soerjadi brutally evicted 200 of her supporters from the building.
In the subsequent street protests at least five people were killed and 149 injured, and 23 people caught up in the incident are still missing. Indonesia's police chief, Lieut Gen Rusdihardjo, said on Tuesday that the police had now started gathering new evidence.
The 1996 case was reopened after President Abdurrahman Wahid named Gen Feisal Tanjung as responsible for the takeover, and also for an attempt "to eliminate" him as chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organisation. Gen Feisal has denied the accusations, but admitted that the army financed the PDI congress in Medan. Following the PDI takeover, Ms Megawati established the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and won last year's general elections with 34 per cent of the total votes. Police have also started investigations into other unsolved cases from the Suharto era.
Indonesia's action against former armed forces chief, Gen Wiranto, and five other generals over East Timor is in a different category. It is taken under the threat of an international war crimes tribunal.
Yesterday, Mr Annan warned, before setting off for East Timor, that calls for a UN tribunal would be revived if the Indonesian investigation is not serious and transparent.
Mr Wahid has said he will pardon Gen Wiranto, making it more difficult to take tough action against officers like Gen Zacky Anwar Makarim and Gen Adam Damiri, the field commanders responsible for East Timor.