Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia doubts the human rights commitment of the new administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
This assessment was in response to remarks by Coordinating Minister for Legal Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who stated the '98 incident was not a gross human rights violation.
"It is inappropriate for a government official to issue erroneous statements about human rights. Especially when one of the responsibilities of the official is legislation related to human rights affairs", said Amnesty International Executive Director Usman Hamid in a written statement on Monday October 21.
Hamid is of the view that Mahendra's statement does not reflect a correct understanding of the law, especially regarding the notion of gross human rights violations in the explanation of Article 104 paragraph (1) of Law Number 39/1999 on Human Rights and Article 7 of Law 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts.
Hamid explained that the statement ignores official reports by the joint fact finding team formed by the government and pro-judicial investigations by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) into a number of past incidents which concluded that human rights violations in the form of crimes against humanity took place.
"So, gross human rights violations under national law are not just genocide and ethnic cleansing", he said.
Hamid explained that according to international law, there are at least four crimes that are considered to be the most serious, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression, as regulated by Article 51 of the Rome Statutes.
The results of the Komnas HAM investigation have also been submitted to the Attorney General.
"This has become an initial legal fact that cannot be denied, except by a fair and just trial. [Or] at least by an ad hoc court that has examined past gross human rights violations. Unfortunately, there has still been no proposal from the DPR [House of Representatives] or a presidential decision in accordance with Article 43 of the Human Rights Court Law", said Hamid.
Hamid added that Mahendra's statement was not only historically and legally inaccurate, but also showed an attitude of zero of empathy towards the victims who suffered during these incidents and who for years and years have been urging the state to uphold the law.
He cited the case of the May 1998 Tragedy (the May 1998 riots in Jakarta) which left deep wounds for those who lost loved ones due to mass violence, rape and murder targeting certain ethnic groups, especially the Chinese community at that time.
Mahendra's statement can be said to be a bad signal from the new government which obscures the responsibility of the state, especially the government, for resolving cases of past gross human rights violations.
Hamid said the previous government also denied responsibility, although it was finally willing to acknowledge that 12 gross human rights violations did occur, including the May 98 Tragedy.
"The authority to determine whether an event, according to its nature and scope, is classified as a gross human rights violation according to the law, does not lie with the president, let alone the minister, but by a human rights court, or at the least it is determined first by the Komnas HAM", said Hamid.
"Komnas HAM must also refute Yusril's statement and push for the resolution of past human rights violations, including the May 98 Tragedy, until they are fully resolved", he continued.
Human rights minister's response
Newly install Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai was reluctant to discuss past human rights violations when sought for confirmation on his first day as minister. "Be patient. Things that are casuistic in nature, right, I say here, I'm developing human rights", replied Pigai.
"The development of human rights must be holistic. Later, the special aspects will emerge, which ones are casuistic, which ones are development", said Pigai at the Ministry of Human Rights office on Monday.
Pigai, a humanitarian activist, gave assurances that Prabowo will pay special attention to human rights. This can be seen from the nomenclature of the newly formed Ministry of Human Rights under the current regime, which had previously been part of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
"Why was the Ministry of Human Rights established? It means that the president will pay special attention. I am the president's soldier, even without the Ministry of Human Rights I could have got another ministry. I have been with the president for 20 years, I have known the president for 30 years. For me there is no relationship", he said.
"Why did the president want to create a Ministry of Human Rights? That means there is something big that he wants to create", he stressed. (chri)
Notes
The May 14, 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Jakarta saw hundreds of ethnic Chinese women raped and murdered and more than a thousand people killed. In 2003, the Komnas HAM accused Prabowo, who at the time was head of the Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad), of playing a central role in sparking the riots. Prabowo has repeatedly denied the accusations.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Amnesty Ragukan Komitmen HAM Pemerintah Prabowo Imbas Ucapan Yusril".]
