Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The Acehnese government will continue to struggle for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) even though the Constitutional Court has put the law on the formation of the commission on ice.

This was announced by Aceh Deputy Governor elect Muhammad Nazar during a discussion held at the National Women’s Commission at the Aceh Community Center yesterday.

According to Nazar, the KKR will become a vehicle for the resolution of Aceh’s problems in their entirety in accordance with the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the peace process in Aceh. “The Acehnese government is aiming to have the KKR formed in 2007”, he said.

Nazar said that the KKR would ensure that the process of post-conflict reintegration continues and that it is extremely important so that all of the victims of the conflict and the cases of humanitarian crimes can be resolved in a just manner.

Using the Helsinki MoU as a point of reference, the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement agreed to form a KKR in Aceh. The establishment of the KKR is mandated by Article 223 of Law No. 11/2006 on Aceh Governance.

Speaking with Tempo Interactive, the head of the Commission A for Legal Affairs and Aceh Regional House of Representatives member Mukhlis Mukhtar said that although the KKR has been frozen at the level of the Constitutional Court, the Acehnese government will still endeavor to form the commission. “I believe that the Constitutional Court’s decision doesn’t mean that Aceh cannot form a KKR”, he said.

[Translated by James Balowski.]