Komnas HAM's accountability<\/p>\n
An intense row has recently developed between the Indonesia
\nMilitary (TNI) and the Indonesian National Commission on Human
\nRights (Komnas HAM) over the latter's discovery of a mass grave
\nin Aceh. To the TNI, the news, coupled with the latter's report
\nabout the presence of a military-backed militia in the province,
\ncame as a slap in the face because the TNI has been staging an
\n\"all out\" operation to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
What is saddening is that these two institutions were doing
\ntheir respective duties. The TNI feels it was cornered at a time
\nwhen it was seriously dealing with the threat to the nation's
\nintegrity, in which it would like to see all layers of society
\nlend support. On the other hand, based on its independent
\nprinciple, Komnas HAM's \"premature\" public disclosure of its
\ndiscovery of a mass grave and the presence of a military-backed
\nmilitia displeased the TNI.<\/p>\n
In my opinion there has been miscommunication concerning this
\nmatter in that the TNI expected Komnas HAM to first report its
\nfindings to the military before making a public statement,
\nwhereas Komnas HAM felt that it was not obliged to do so because
\nit is an independent institution. However, based on the
\ncarefulness and principle of responsibility, Komnas HAM should
\nhave refrained from revealing any preliminary findings to the
\npress, moreover to the foreign media.<\/p>\n
What is lacking here is a mechanism that regulates who reports
\nto whom, or the mechanism is already in place but has yet to be
\nimplemented. It means that if Komnas HAM says it is an
\nindependent institution, its accountability is to the House of
\nRepresentatives, since its membership was chosen by the House. So
\nit should first report to the House before reporting to others.
\nMost importantly, it should select which news can be released to
\nthe media, and consider how sensitive it is.<\/p>\n
Through this mechanism we would see the House summon and
\nprobably question the TNI if the evidence proves to be true, and
\nthrough this also we would see inter-institution relations run
\nsmoothly.<\/p>\n
M. RUSDI, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/komnas-hams-accountability-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }