Komnas HAM Excluded from Drafting Human Rights Bill

Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), Anis Hidayah, stated that her agency was not involved in the deliberation of the Human Rights Bill revision draft prepared by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

The Ministry of Law and Human Rights is drafting the revised Human Rights Act and is currently conducting public consultation. The draft bill, published on the ministry’s official website, is claimed to have undergone consultation processes involving Komnas HAM.

‘Komnas HAM firmly denies this claim. The commission has not been involved in drafting the Human Rights Bill at any stage, including during discussions, and has even struggled to obtain the initial draft,’ Anis stated in a press release on Tuesday, 26 May 2026.

Anis said the 63-page draft does not reflect any input from Komnas HAM. As an independent body established under the Human Rights Act, she noted that Komnas HAM has the greatest stake in any amendments to the law, given its implications for the commission’s position, functions, and authority.

She added that disregarding Komnas HAM violates the Paris Principles, international standards governing national human rights institutions, which require broad mandates, institutional independence, and full freedom to operate without political interference.

Anis also stated that Komnas HAM has consistently achieved the highest accreditation from the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) for at least a decade.

‘A draft bill undermining Komnas HAM’s functions and authority could damage Indonesia’s credibility as the current President of the UN Human Rights Council,’ she warned.

Previously, Ministry of Law and Human Rights Secretary-General Novita Ilmaris claimed the revision process involved various stakeholders, including Komnas HAM, civil society organisations, academics, and other government ministries and agencies.

Novita stated that the involvement of national human rights institutions was documented in various discussion forums and public consultations held by the ministry.

‘If there are claims that the Human Rights Bill does not involve national human rights institutions or civil society, we respond that the ministry has engaged all parties, including academics and experts, as this law will affect everyone,’ Novita told reporters on Friday, 22 May 2026.

Minister of Law and Human Rights Natalius Pigai previously stated that revisions to Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights and Law No. 26 of 2000 on Human Rights Courts would strengthen Komnas HAM. He said the government plans to introduce Human Rights Investigators to be staffed by Komnas HAM.

In the draft bill, Pigai said Human Rights Investigators from Komnas HAM would have powers similar to those of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators. ‘Komnas HAM will function like the KPK,’ he said when met at his office in South Jakarta on Friday, 20 February 2026.

Pigai explained that the Human Rights Investigators would probe human rights violation cases, with their working mechanisms modelled on KPK investigators. ‘The difference is that the KPK handles corruption, while Human Rights Investigators deal with human rights violations,’ he said.