Tatang Guritno, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is asking the government to take concrete action to resolve human rights violations in the country.
This was conveyed by Kontras Coordinator Rivanlee Anandar following a statement by Presidential Chief of staff Moeldoko who said that the government has never avoided the issue of human rights problems.
"At this time what's needed is concrete action by the state to resolve human rights violations, not more justifications", Anandar told Kompas.com on Friday November 19.
Anandar said that Moeldoko's statement is not in line with his position as a public official who has issued summonses and taken legal actions against human rights activists. "This shows that the government has ignored human rights", he said.
Moreover, continued Anandar, to this day the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has not resolved a single case of past gross human rights violations.
"Since Jokowi's first term in office, the problem has been the back and forth of dossiers between the Attorney General's Office and the Komnas HAM [National Human Rights Commission]", he explained, referring to the AGO repeatedly returning Komnas HAM investigation dossiers because they are allegedly incomplete.
In Anandar's view, the state has made absolutely no progress in resolving cases of past gross human rights violations.
"The (government) has mostly gone backwards, such as by promoting alleged human rights violators to government posts, this shows that there have been no meaningful efforts made. In fact it clearly shows an avoidance of human rights problems", he said in conclusion.
As has been reported, Moeldoko stated recently that the state has never avoided human rights problems.
Moeldoko made statement after being expelled from a Kamisan (Thursday) action in the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang on Thursday November 18.
Moeldoko's rejection by the Kamisan activists was after he had attended the government organised 2021 Human Rights Festival in Semarang. The protesters asked Moeldoko to leave and did not allow him to speak on the platform.
Kamisan action field coordinator Azis Rahmad believes that the government has yet to resolve cases of human rights violations. The participants at the action also urged the government to stop robbing the people's living space and damaging the environment.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Soal Klaim Moeldoko Terkait HAM, Kontras: Kami Butuh Action, Bukan Justifikasi".]
