Novianti Setuningsih, Jakarta – Human rights activist (HAM) Usman Hamid has alluded to the track records of the presidential and vice presidential candidates (capres-cawapres), in particular Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who did not include a program to resolve past human rights cases in their vision and mission.
Hamid said that it is important to look at the performance of the candidates when they were in office and as politicians.
"Have any of them been seen as persistent in fighting for the resolution of past gross human rights cases or have they been silent on the human rights abuses that have taken place or instead even been involved in past gross human rights violations?", asked Hamid in an SMS sent to Kompas.com on Wednesday November 1.
According to Hamid, it is important to study the candidate's track records because past rights cases must be fully resolved.
The secretary of the Fact Finding Team (TPF) that investigated the 2004 assassination of renewed human rights defender Munir said that human rights cases must be resolved through the law in order to provide justice to the victims who lost their rights in the past.
"This is also important because it involves the collective morality of the nation's people in the future. This nation requires a new future, in the sense of resting on a history of past human rights violations that honestly recognises the dark side. This can also prevent gross human rights violations from being repeated in the future", said Hamid.
The executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia also said that it is very likely that human rights violations will be repeated.
"So this must be demanded of the capres and cawapres, what is their specific commitment to guaranteeing that past human rights violations will not be repeated in the future. That's the key thing", said Hamid.
Only the presidential ticket of Defense Minister Prabowo and Solo Mayor Gibran does not included a program on resolving past rights abuses in their vision and mission.
In their mission on human rights, Prabowo and Gibran only pledge to protect the human rights of citizens and abolish discriminative practices.
The pair also includes an inclusive policy program, guarantee fulfilling basic social rights and protecting vulnerable groups and workers.
Meanwhile the presidential ticket of former Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud MD includes a commitment to resolve past human rights violations justly. Particularly in the case of violations that have become a national burden.
The candidates from the Coalition for Change and Unity (KPP), former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar (Cak Imin) are also committed to resolving human rights violations in their vision and mission.
Not only that, Baswedan and Iskandar are also pushing for the social and economic rehabilitation of victims of human rights violations and to strengthen national human rights institutions.
Notes
Out of the six candidates, only Prabowo, who was commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) in the final years of the Suharto dictatorship, has been directly accused of human rights violations. This includes abuses in East Timor and West Papua and his involvement in the abduction and murder of pro-democracy activists in 1997-98. Although he has admitted to ordering the kidnappings and was dismissed from the military over the affair, he has never been tried in court over the allegations. Up until his appointment as Defense Minister in 2019, he was denied a visa to enter the US due to his human rights record.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Prabowo-Gibran Tak Janjikan Penyelesaian Kasus HAM Masa Lalu, Aktivis HAM Singgung soal Rekam Jejak".]
