Komnas Perempuan Highlights Denial of Human Rights Violations
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) assesses that the state’s response to past human rights violations demonstrates dynamics that are not entirely linear. In recent developments, Komnas observes efforts to continue implementing victim recovery policies. However, on the other hand, narratives have emerged from several state officials that are seen as potentially weakening the recognition of the violations that have occurred. “Among them is the denial that the May 1998 Tragedy is not a serious human rights violation by the Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections,” said Komnas Perempuan Commissioner Daden Sukendar at Tempo’s office on Thursday, 7 May 2026.
The statement in question refers to the controversial remarks by Yusril Ihza Mahendra on his first day after being inaugurated as Coordinating Minister. On 21 October 2024, the member of President Prabowo Subianto’s Red and White Cabinet stated that the 1998 violence did not fall into the category of serious human rights violations. Yusril also once said that there have been no serious human rights violation cases in the country in the last several decades. For him, serious human rights violations consist of genocide or ethnic cleansing.
In addition, Komnas Perempuan highlighted the statement by Culture Minister Fadli Zon that the mass rapes during the May 1998 events were mere rumours. In fact, the official report of the Joint Fact-Finding Team revealed numerous testimonies and evidence indicating that Chinese women were targeted for systematic rape during the riots. “The facts are clear. Even the Head of the May 1998 TGPF, Mr Marzuki Darusman, a former Attorney General whose credibility is unquestionable. But what happened in May 1998, especially regarding the mass rapes, is denied by the Culture Minister,” said Daden.
Fadli Zon’s statement is considered to contradict previous findings and risks obscuring the truth as well as weakening the victim recovery process, particularly for female victims of sexual violence. In 2025, Fadli Zon drew criticism for his statement calling the 1998 mass rape events mere rumours. Fadli expressed this view in an interview about the process of rewriting history with a senior journalist from IDN Times, Uni Zulfiani Lubis.
The Gerindra Party politician stated that rewriting history aims to clarify various rumours that have long been considered facts. He used the issue of the May 1998 mass rapes as one example to be corrected. “Mass rapes, says who? There has never been proof. It’s a story. If there is, show it. Is it in the history books?” said Fadli Zon on Wednesday, 11 June 2025.
In September 2025, the Civil Society Coalition Against Impunity then filed a lawsuit against Minister Fadli Zon at the Jakarta State Administrative Court. The coalition sued the government’s administrative action in the form of Fadli’s official statement questioning the “supporting data” of the May 1998 TGPF report. That statement is seen as obscuring the factual findings regarding rape victims throughout the 1998 tragedy.
However, in April 2026, the Jakarta PTUN rejected this lawsuit. The decision of the Jakarta PTUN panel of judges was announced through the electronic court system or e-court on 21 April 2026. The decision by the panel of three female judges then dismissed the citizens’ demands regarding the denial of the mass rape events in the May 1998 riots.