Nicholas Ryan Aditya, Ardito Ramadhan, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) says that the first 100 days of the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka did not shown a real commitment to resolving cases of past gross human rights violations (HAM).
Kontras Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya believes that the government has actually strived to whitewash the human rights crimes that have occurred.
"In the 100 days of the Prabowo-Gibran administration, the new regime did not seem to show a real commitment to resolving cases of past gross human rights violations. Conversely, there were strong indications that the Prabowo-Gibran government regime is trying to whitewash the crimes that have occurred", Arya said during a press conference at the Kontras offices in Jakarta on Monday January 20.
Arya then gave an example of the government's efforts to try and whitewash past human rights crimes.
For example, the controversial statement by Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Institutions Yusril Ihza Mahendra who said there was no need to look to the past when asked about the resolution of rights violations.
According to Kontras, the statement is problematic because gross human rights violations are criminal acts in the form of extraordinary crimes as regulated under Law Number 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts.
Arya said that the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) had already conducted pro-judicial investigations into these cases, meaning that the legal process is ongoing.
"There is no party who then has the authority to intervene in the process, moreover to determine what steps are need to be taken to complete it, including the president", Arya said.
Kontras also highlighted the formation of a specific ministry to deal with human rights matters, but it was not a breath of fresh air for the full resolution of past violations.
He reflected on several statements by Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai who is considered to have never mentioned anything about the resolution of past gross human rights violations as one of the ministry's programs.
"The program and working plan that he has conveyed actually represents things that do not touch the true substance of human rights. Pigai ignores the burden that continues to be borne by Indonesia, namely the full resolution of human rights crimes that occurred during the New Order era [of former president Suharto], as a form of truly upholding human rights", Arya said.
In its final point, Kontras saw that there was a lack of seriousness on the part of the government to fully resolve past gross human rights violations during the commemoration of Human Rights Day on December 10, 2024.
The commemoration of Human Rights Day last December, which should be a momentum for the government to reflect on upholding human rights in Indonesia, especially justice for victims of gross human rights violations, actually brought bad news.
Because, at that moment, Mahendra and Komnas HAM said that they would resolve past gross human rights violations through the mechanism of reconciliation. Kontras believes that such a discourse is unfounded because it is very dangerous for justice and state accountability, and has the potential to strengthen the walls of impunity.
"The state must disclose the truth, criminal accountability from the perpetrators, the recovery of victims, and institutional reforms together and side by side. We suspect that the discourse on resolving it through a KKR [Truth and Reconciliation Commission] is nothing more than an effort by the state to run away from its responsibilities and again protect the perpetrators of human rights crimes", said Arya.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "100 Hari Prabowo-Gibran, Kontras Soroti Komitmen Penuntasan Kasus HAM Masa Lalu".]
