State Admits to Occurrence of Gross Human Rights Violations
The state’s acknowledgement and remorse over the occurrence of gross human rights violations in 12 past incidents will be followed by the restoration of the victims’ rights, without negating a judicial settlement.
By
NINA SUSILO, DIAN DEWI PURNAMASARI
·7 minutes read
BPMI SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN
President Joko Widodo press conference together with the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Mahfud MD, regarding the results of recommendations from the Team for the Resolution of Non-Judicial Past Serious Human Rights Violations, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (11/1/2023).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The state’s acknowledgement and remorse over the occurrence of gross human rights violations in 12 past incidents is appreciated. It serves as a breakthrough for the stagnation in resolving these cases. Additionally, it can also be the first step toward a comprehensive resolution, which includes preventing similar incidents from occurring again in the future.
“The next challenge is to ensure that the follow-up of the President’s acknowledgement and remorse results in a comprehensive settlement mechanism. This is so that the President’s statement does not simply become a political sweetener ahead of the 2024 elections,” said Institute for Community Studies and Advocacy executive director Wahyudi Djafar on Wednesday (11/1/2023).
According to him, the state’s acknowledgement and remorse conveyed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should only be regarded as the beginning of a series of comprehensive settlements. In principle, the settlement of cases of gross human rights violations in a non-judicial manner is complementary, and does not replace settlements through judicial routes. Ideally, there is a transitional justice approach through a series of processes, as stipulated in Law No. 26/2000 concerning human rights courts.
“The state also needs to fulfill the victims’ rights to the truth as a mechanism for the right to know about what happened. It is not just for the victims, but the people too. The report from the Non-Judicial Resolution for Past Gross Human Rights Violations (PPHAM) team needs to be continued and developed as a complete accountability report. This can be done with participation, as a new historical narrative for Indonesia,” he said.
Furthermore, Wahyudi requested that the recovery of victims be done comprehensively. Restoring the victims’ rights must be based on the principle of restoring the dignity of the victims to how it was prior to the occurrence of the human rights violation. Recovery is not only done through social and economic rehabilitation, but must also provide satisfaction guarantees for victims, such as the restoration of their reputations.
I as the head of state acknowledge that gross human rights violations did occur in various incidents and I deeply regret that these incidents of gross human rights violations occurred
President Jokowi, as the head of state, acknowledged the occurrence of gross human rights violations in 12 past incidents after receiving a recommendation from the PPHAM team at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday. The team, led by Kamarim Wibisono, was formed by the President and began working in September 2022.
“With a clear mind and a sincere heart, I as the head of state acknowledge that gross human rights violations did occur in various incidents and I deeply regret that these incidents of gross human rights violations occurred,” said the President.
BPMI SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN
President Joko Widodo with the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Mahfud MD, meeting with the Team for the Non-Judicial Resolution of Past Gross Human Rights Violations, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (11/1/2023).
Judicial settlement
The President also sympathized and emphasized with the victims and their families.
“Therefore, the government and I will try to recover the rights of the victims, fairly and wisely, without negating the judicial settlement,” he said.
The President also emphasized that the government will make serious efforts to ensure that gross human rights violations do not occur again in the future. “Hopefully, this effort will serve as a meaningful step in healing the wounds of our nation’s children in order to strengthen the national harmony of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia,” said the President.
Following the meeting at the State Palace, Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD explained that in the future, the President would invite relevant ministers, such as the Social Affairs Minister; the Public Works and Housing Minister; the Finance Minister; the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister; as well as the Indonesian Army (TNI) commander and police chief. They will be given assignments based on the PPHAM team’s recommendations.
Mahfud was reluctant to comment about the legal breakthrough in the judicial handling of gross human rights violations cases after repeated failures. “Let the House of Representatives decide that. Because in the past, it was the House that made that law [Human Rights Court Law]. We will report that this cannot be carried out in that way because the procedure is different,” he said.
According to the executive summary of the PPHAM team’s report, which was obtained by Kompas, a total of 11 recommendations were made by the team to the President. Apart from recommending the President as the head of state to express his acknowledgement and remorse for past gross human rights violations, the team also recommended restoring the victims’ constitutional rights as well as their rights as citizens.
In addition, the team recommended rewriting history and illustrating the events as a balanced and official version of the historical narrative while taking into account the human rights of those who were victimized. Another recommendation made was to issue state policies to ensure gross human rights violations do not occur again.
DIAN DEWI PURNAMASARI
The Chief Executive of the PPHAM Team, Makarim Wibisono (in front, speech) during an audience between the Team for the Settlement of Non-Judicial Past Gross Human Rights Violations with the Nahdlatul Ulama Board and NU Ulama at the Miftachus Sunnah Islamic Boarding School, Surabaya, East Java, Tuesday (27/12/2022).
These 11 recommendations were based on the team’s findings and analysis. It was stated that the team generally observed three patterns that served as the background to the incidents of gross human rights violations, namely the actions of state actors, the neglect of state actors and the mutual influence between the two.
It was said that there were a combination of factors that led to the occurrence of gross human rights violations. The intersection of ideological awareness and material interests could be one of these causes. These two things manifest in power and concrete issues related to economic, political and social affairs. Then, with the state’s role in issuing policies and regulations, its actions related to these situations are the cause of gross human rights violations in the past. According to the team’s field findings, the state’s actions were the cause of the casualties.
Acknowledgement is not enough
Kontras deputy coordinator Rivanlee Anandar said that the President’s acknowledgement and remorse over past gross human rights violations is nothing new. According to him, Indonesia’s fourth president, Abdurrahman Wahid, also once apologized to the victims, although specifically to the victims of the 1965-1966 incident. Apart from that, he continued, mere acknowledgement and remorse from the state is not enough. They must be followed up with a series of actions to restore the victims’ rights as a whole.
Gadjah Mada University (UGM) law lecturer Herlambang Perdana, in Yogyakarta, also stressed the importance of follow-up actions after the state’s acknowledgement and remorse. According to him, the President’s statement was a step in the right direction and hoped that the state’s commitments would not stop at political rhetoric. This is because such political rhetoric of power over the resolution of gross human rights violations cases will only add to the pain and sorrow burdening the victims and their families.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid appreciated the President’s attitude in acknowledging the occurrence of gross human rights violations in 12 past incidents. Usman said that this statement was long overdue considering the suffering of the victims who were left in the dark without justice, truth and recovery for decades.
“However, recognition without trying to bring those responsible for past human rights violations to justice will only add salt to the wounds of the victims and their families. Simply put, the President’s statement is meaningless without accountability,” he said.
He also deplored the government’s decision to only acknowledge 12 incidents as cases of gross human rights violation. Meanwhile, four other cases have been tried in court and ruled out, namely the East Timorese occupation, the 1984 Tanjung Priok tragedy, the Paniai incident and the Abepura incident. The exclusion of these four gross human rights cases makes it seem as if the government is ignoring the fact that legal processes have acquitted all the accused in previous trials.
