Govt ready to set up truth, reconciliation commission

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Attempts to uncover the truth behind a series of unresolved human rights cases, which have caused much trouble and uncertainty in Indonesia's history, has stepped up to a new stage, with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) to be set up very soon.

Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a presidential decree for the establishment of a team assigned to recruit candidates to become members of the KKR.

The deadline for the establishment of the KKR is April, according to Law No. 27/2004 that was passed in October last year.

The law mandates the KKR to investigate past gross human rights violations, and then make recommendations to the President on how to resolve the cases.

The selection team will be led by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights director-general for general law administration Zulkarnaen Yunus, while team members will include director- general of human rights Hafid Abbas, secretary to the director- general of legislation Wicipto Setiadi, activist Bambang Widjojanto, member of the National Commission on Human Rights Lies Sugondo, and academician Sunaryati.

The team will shortlist some 42 candidates to sit on the KKR. The President will then select 21 from the shortlist.

Police and military personnel are prohibited from applying to sit on the commission. However, members of political parties are welcomed, though they must resign their party membership if they are actually selected to sit on the commission.

Indonesians have generally paid little attention to the issue of the establishment of the KKR, despite the fact that a significant number of them were either victims, or relatives of victims, of gross human rights abuses.

Ifhdal Kasim, the director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), who has been intensively involved with the issue, said that most Indonesians doubt that the commission would be able to unveil the truth, as most human rights abuses occurred during the previous New Order dictatorship and involved powerful people in the military, government and political parties, who currently hold positions in the government, the House of Representatives, and the Regional Representatives Council.

International experts on truth and reconciliation commissions have said that Indonesia's law for its truth commission contains loopholes that disadvantages victims.

For the seven years of its mandated existence, including a two-year possible extension, the commission is expected to resolve cases of human rights violations that occurred before the year 2000, the year that human rights tribunal was established.