Komnas HAM questions govt's commitment to human rights
Komnas HAM questions govt's commitment to human rights
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Abdul
Hakim Garuda Nusantara questioned on Wednesday the commitment of
the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to maintain
the commission's existence as an institution in charge of
upholding human rights in the country.
He said Komnas HAM had no authority to prosecute human rights
cases and that the Attorney General's Office, with various
excuses, had ignored its recommendations in several cases.
"That is the fact. Are there any benefits (of Komnas HAM's
existence)? If the answer is no, why do the government and the
House not liquidate it?"
He was referring to several recommendations on human rights
violations which had been ignored by both the House and attorney
general.
"I think it depends on the country's political and power
constellation. Today, with such a low interest in human rights
enforcement, I think the House will put our recommendation in
their drawer or throw it in a trash bin."
The East Timor human rights case was the only Komnas HAM
recommendation that proceeded to prosecution. The results of the
trial, however, received domestic and international criticism as
most defendants have been acquitted.
The rights body, set up on June 7, 1993, was given a broader
role in 2000 to investigate possible human rights violations and
recommend action to the House. Any prosecution is only possible
with the approval of the House and the president.
The House -- with Komnas HAM's recommendation -- has approved
the establishment of an ad hoc court to try human rights abuses
related to the 1984 Tanjung Priok incident and in East Timor in
1999.
But, the Tanjung Priok trial has yet to start despite the fact
that the Attorney General's Office has already named several
powerful past and present members of the Indonesia Military
(TNI).
In July 2001, the House announced there were no gross human
rights violations during the violence at Trisakti University in
1998 or during the Semanggi incidents in 1998 and 1999, in which
at least 20 students were killed.
Former president Abdurrahman Wahid ordered an inquiry but the
House supported some military officials' defiance to not answer
Komnas HAM summons.
The Attorney General's Office used the House decision as an
excuse to drag out following through with the prosecution.
Garuda said it would soon send a letter to the House to ask
for a review of its decision of the killings.
"I have no idea what we're going to do if the House rejects
our request," Garuda remarked.