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.