Commission to unravel dark side of Indonesian history

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Justice and Human Rights Ministry has drafted legislation on the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission to settle the numerous gross human rights violations committed by the Indonesian government.

The draft legislation, which allows for businesses and individuals to be charged, has been submitted to the government for consideration before it can be presented to the House of Representatives.

Indonesia already has legislation allowing for the establishment of ad-hoc tribunals to hear cases involving rights violations. However, the tribunals can only hear cases which occurred after the law's enactment on Nov. 20, 2000. The exceptions are atrocities committed by Indonesian security forces in East Timor in 1999 and the Tanjung Priok massacre in 1984. Other cases will have to be settled through either the commission or normal legal channels.

Under the draft bill, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post, the 15 member-commission will be given the power to grant human rights violators amnesty if they plead guilty and express remorse to those affected, provided the family is willing to forgive.

However, the draft states the commission can provide the president with recommendations to pardon rights violators, even if the families are not willing to forgive.

Should the perpetrators plead innocent, the cases will be heard by an ad-hoc human rights tribunal.

"Through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, both the victims and perpetrators could share their experiences to reconstruct the truth in connection with past human rights violations. Only in this way, can national reconciliation develop," according to the bill.

A committee comprising three government officials and two community representatives will select 30 candidates, with the president picking the 15 commission members. The selection also have to be endorsed by the House.

Police and military personnel are barred from serving on the commission given the conflict of interest.

The draft says the commission is authorized to investigate violations following reports from the perpetrators, victims or surviving relatives. The commission is allowed to obtain evidence from civilians, the military or private institutions as well as order people to testify.

The draft does not specify a time limit for past rights violations that the commission can investigate.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra once said the commission may investigate possible human rights violations during Dutch colonization from the sixteenth century to the 20th century.

State Secretary Bambang Kesowo said last week that disagreement over how much compensation should be paid and its impact on the state budget had delayed submission of the bill to the House.

The abortive coup d'etat by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in the mid 1965, which claimed hundreds of thousands of PKI supporters, and the May 1998 riots, during which at least 100 women and girls, mainly Indonesians of Chinese decent, were sexually assaulted, are just two examples of cases the commission could hear.

Researcher Priscilla B. Hayner of the Ford Foundation, however, warns that the commission could only be effective if it is supported by all parts of the community. She suggested the government promote the commission among Indonesians.