Government to Determine Who Deserves Human Rights Activist Status

The government will determine the validity of the human rights (HAM) activist status attached to an individual. The Ministry of HAM is preparing an assessment team to ensure that legal protection is only provided to parties who truly carry out the function of defending human rights (HAM). “There will be a team, an assessment team. The assessment team will decide whether this person is an activist or not,” said Minister of HAM Natalius Pigai in an exclusive interview with ANTARA in Jakarta on Wednesday (29/4/2026). He explained that the assessment is based on strict criteria that evaluate the context of a person’s actions at the time of the incident, not merely their status or self-acknowledgment. “So, an HAM activist might, at a certain time, be found by the assessment team to be working, even though their status is as an HAM activist; if they are working for payment at that time, they cannot be considered an HAM activist,” said Pigai. “If they are defending the unjust, the little people, the weak who want to fight for justice, then they happen to be an HAM activist, and it will be determined as an HAM activist,” he stated. Pigai explained that the assessment team will work to evaluate the context of the incident directly, so the decision is not general but specific to the situation faced by the individual. To maintain objectivity, he said, the assessment team will be filled with cross-sectoral elements, from government, civil society, to law enforcement officials. “The Ministry of HAM will appoint people such as national activist figures, professional figures, top scientists, like Mr Makarim Wibisono, who was the former Chair of the UN Human Rights Commission. People of their calibre are not subjective. They are done. The assessment team will certainly be objective with criteria,” he said. In addition, he stated, the involvement of law enforcement officials is important so that the assessment also considers the context of the ongoing legal process. “Later, select from various elements. There will be from civil society communities, from the government namely the Ministry of HAM, from Komnas HAM itself, Komnas Anak, Komnas Perempuan, Komnas Disabilitas. We will also ask law enforcement officials to be members of the assessment team, so they can see that this is true,” said Pigai. This mechanism, he added, is expected to become the main filter in ensuring that HAM protection is targeted correctly and not misused.