Rina Ayu, Jakarta – Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko says that law enforcement and human rights have progressed in the four years of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s administration.
One of the things that proves this is that the families of victims of past human rights violations visited the State Palace [in late May] and met with Security Minister Wiranto, Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo and the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM).
“The government has provided the broadest possible access to all parties, including the families of victims, including opening the Palace’s doors to the families holding Kamisan [Thursday actions]”, said Moeldoko at the vice presidential offices on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta on Monday October 22.
Nevertheless, the former army chief of staff said that it will not be easy for the government to solve the problems of the past.
“The aim is to figure out what actually [happened] with these past problems, which are quite complex, and resolve them quickly according to priority. So actually there is a process”, he explained.
Moeldoko said that the government has already proposed a judicial and non-judicial approach although it has yet to find the right formula in resolving legal and human rights cases.
“So, this is indeed a process. It’s impossible to resolve these past problems which are so complicated in a short time. It needs patience from all parties. This doesn’t mean that the government is doing nothing. It’s already done something”, he said.
On October 20 this year the Widodo government entered its fourth year in office.
A number of parties from the opposition believe that Widodo and Kalla’s achievements can be said to have succeeded in terms of infrastructure and economic growth.
Rights groups meanwhile have highlighted that fact that few legal and human rights cases have been resolve during the Widodo administration.
Notes
The meeting at the State Palace with the families of victims of past rights violations took place on May 30 after Widodo made an apparently offhand remark about wanting to meet with the families which was then seized upon by Kamisan activists protesting in front of the State Palace.
The one hour meeting ended with Widodo saying that he would summon Wiranto and Prasetyo – nether of which attended the meeting – “in the near future” and ask them to act as a bridge with the families.
Representatives of the families later said they were deeply disappointed with the outcome saying the meeting ended without achieving anything whatsoever and that it was nothing more than a cynical attempt at image building in the lead up to the 2019 presidential elections.
See: Families of rights victims leave empty handed after meeting with Jokowi comes to nothing – KBR. May 31, 2018
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was Moeldoko Sebut Penengakan Hukum dan HAM di Era Jokowi-JK Alami Kemajuan.]
