Komnas HAM's accountability

An intense row has recently developed between the Indonesia Military (TNI) and the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) over the latter's discovery of a mass grave in Aceh. To the TNI, the news, coupled with the latter's report about the presence of a military-backed militia in the province, came as a slap in the face because the TNI has been staging an "all out" operation to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group.

What is saddening is that these two institutions were doing their respective duties. The TNI feels it was cornered at a time when it was seriously dealing with the threat to the nation's integrity, in which it would like to see all layers of society lend support. On the other hand, based on its independent principle, Komnas HAM's "premature" public disclosure of its discovery of a mass grave and the presence of a military-backed militia displeased the TNI.

In my opinion there has been miscommunication concerning this matter in that the TNI expected Komnas HAM to first report its findings to the military before making a public statement, whereas Komnas HAM felt that it was not obliged to do so because it is an independent institution. However, based on the carefulness and principle of responsibility, Komnas HAM should have refrained from revealing any preliminary findings to the press, moreover to the foreign media.

What is lacking here is a mechanism that regulates who reports to whom, or the mechanism is already in place but has yet to be implemented. It means that if Komnas HAM says it is an independent institution, its accountability is to the House of Representatives, since its membership was chosen by the House. So it should first report to the House before reporting to others. Most importantly, it should select which news can be released to the media, and consider how sensitive it is.

Through this mechanism we would see the House summon and probably question the TNI if the evidence proves to be true, and through this also we would see inter-institution relations run smoothly.

M. RUSDI, Jakarta