Another bad year<\/p>\n
In terms of human rights observation, 1999 has been another
\nbotched year for Indonesia. Ironically, this year rampant human
\nrights violations occurred while democracy was flourishing in the
\ncountry. One would have thought that the two were incompatible,
\nthat human rights abuses of the scale we have seen in Indonesia
\nin the past year would have been impossible in a democracy.<\/p>\n
But Indonesia is undergoing massive changes, from being a
\nrepressive society to a more open one, from a military-style
\ntyranny to a civil society. The country is in a transition, where
\nold values and practices often still clash with new ones, where
\nthe old guard resists changes which undermine its power. Change
\nnevertheless is inevitable in Indonesia. The country has come a
\nlong way from the days when human rights abuses were not only
\ntolerated, but were also part of state policy. The only question
\nremaining today is how fast can Indonesia implement the changes.<\/p>\n
This time next year, when we mark the Universal Declaration of
\nHuman Rights again, hopefully we can be more positive about the
\nwhole issue. This year, with more of a downside than positive
\ndevelopment, Indonesia's overall human rights record is negative.<\/p>\n
The country held its first truly democratic general election
\nin June, and, in a similarly democratic fashion, elected
\nAbdurrahman Wahid as president in October. The country now enjoys
\nunprecedented freedom of expression. The fact that few people
\ntalk about this issue nowadays is because such freedom has come
\nto be taken for granted as an inalienable right of the people.<\/p>\n
But why has violence continued to dog us throughout 1999?
\nBloody unrest in East Timor, Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya stole
\nthe spotlight more so than the remarkable democratization process
\nthat has been taking place in the country. If we accept the
\ntheory that Indonesia is in a period of transition, then we could
\nattribute these rampant human rights abuses to the carry-over
\npractices of the past. Certainly, most of these atrocities
\noccurred in the first 10 months of the year under the
\ntransitional administration of B.J. Habibie, who belonged to the
\nold guard. President Abdurrahman, whose commitment to democracy
\nand human rights is beyond doubt, marks a break from the past.
\nHis election has raised hopes that things can only get better.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's human rights record, however, will not be judged
\nsolely by the way the new government has stopped the killings and
\nother forms of abuse -- assuming that this will be the case under
\nthe new government -- but also by the way it deals with past
\nabuses. The atrocities committed by the previous regimes of
\nSoeharto and Habibie have left plenty of work for President
\nAbdurrahman. There are still the questions of compensating the
\nvictims of human rights abuses, and most of all, prosecuting the
\nguilty parties, not in the name of exacting revenge, but in the
\nname of upholding justice. On the last issue, the new government
\nunfortunately faces a major stumbling block.<\/p>\n
The military, which conducted most of the past atrocities, has
\ncontinued to block or to slow down any and every effort to
\nprosecute the responsible parties. We have seen this in the way
\nthe atrocities in Aceh and East Timor are being dealt with. While
\nacknowledging its mistakes, be it in East Timor or Aceh, and
\ndespite findings by independent inquiries confirming its
\ncomplicity in these acts, the military has blocked efforts to
\nbring justice to those who gave the orders or to those who
\ncarried them out.<\/p>\n
Given that orders are normally passed through the military
\nhierarchy chain, then it is not impossible that these orders came
\nright from the very top of the military structure. Yet the
\nmilitary is only willing to allow investigations into enlisted
\npersonnel. Even then, it has deployed delaying tactics by
\nrefusing to allow soldiers to be tried in a civilian court.<\/p>\n
The loss of East Timor in a way was a blessing because it
\nmeans Indonesia no longer has to worry about new human rights
\nabuses committed in that territory. But even assuming that such
\nabuses will no longer occur in Aceh or elsewhere in the country,
\nIndonesia's human rights reputation still hinges on its ability
\nto bring to justice past violators.<\/p>\n
This will probably be President Abdurrahman's biggest test and
\nhis credibility, at home as well as abroad, will largely be
\ndetermined by his ability to carry out this process of justice.
\nIt does not matter whether the perpetrators are tried at an
\nIndonesian or an international court; what matters most is that
\ntheir trials are perceived as credible and fair.<\/p>",
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