Govt must revise reconciliation law<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A discussion here on Wednesday identified shortcomings in Law No.
\n27\/2004 on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR), and
\ncalled for amendments to its articles in order to make the much-
\ntouted commission actually work.<\/p>\n
Institute of Policy Research and Advocacy director Ifdhal
\nKasim said a stumbling point was Article 27, which recommends
\nthat compensation and rehabilitation for victims of human rights
\nabuse be given only after an amnesty is granted for violators.<\/p>\n
\"What if the culprits don't get an amnesty? Or what if the
\nalleged perpetrators don't apply for an amnesty? The victims will
\nend up with nothing,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Passed in September last year, the law provides amnesty to
\nhuman rights violators if they reveal the truth and give
\nrestitution to their victims.<\/p>\n
The mechanism has raised doubts as many see it as an
\ninadequate incentive for alleged culprits to speak the truth
\nbecause amnesty is not automatically granted, despite their
\ntestimonies.<\/p>\n
Lawmaker Sidharto Danusubroto, who headed the special
\ncommittee deliberating the law, said the final verdict indeed lay
\nin the hands of the ad hoc Human Rights Tribunal set up to try
\nrights violators refusing to confess their wrongdoings.<\/p>\n
\"And like it or not, we have to believe that the tribunal will
\nwork properly and fairly to serve justice,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The ad hoc tribunal had acquitted all high-ranking military
\npersonnel in the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre, while it sentenced
\nonly civilians tried for the 1999 East Timor atrocities and
\nacquitted implicated police and military officers of all charges.<\/p>\n
Sidharto admitted that the law was indeed far from effective
\nin helping the commission produce satisfying results, but quickly
\nadded that it was \"better for it to be born crippled rather than
\nto have it aborted\".<\/p>\n
He, nonetheless, agreed that amendments could be made, even
\nthough the commission itself was not yet established.<\/p>\n
Ifdhal said the law also did not define the culprit, making it
\nimpossible to prosecute the masterminds of crimes -- a situation
\ndissatisfying for victims and their families because the few who
\nget prosecuted are mostly just carrying out orders from their
\nsuperiors.<\/p>\n
He argued that the commission should actually focus on seeking
\nand revealing the truth by letting the victims be heard.<\/p>\n
\"It should emulate what the Argentine commission did. It
\ngathered victims' testimonies, and later drew a report about how
\nand why the crimes took place by identifying the involved
\ninstitutions and allowing systems. It's like rewriting the real
\nhistory, and the report was later submitted to prosecutors as
\nevidence.<\/p>\n
As for the victims, they get proportional compensation and
\nrestitution regardless of whether or not the alleged culprits
\nconfess,\" Ifdhal said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-must-revise-reconciliation-law-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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