Marzuki urges formation of special rights body

JAKARTA (JP): A leading human rights advocate urged the nation on Monday to establish a special commission to record past human rights abuses and help victims come to terms with their traumatic histories.

Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights, said such a commission was urgently needed to break the psychological barriers suffered by many victims in accepting their traumatic past.

At the same time, the commission could launch a program of information dissemination to alleged perpetrators so that they would not repeat abuses in the future.

"Too often we don't place human rights abuses in the correct proportion and simply think that such traumatic experiences will gradually heal by themselves if they are repressed," Marzuki said.

Marzuki said that during the transitional period which the country is going through, there have been many bloody clashes and rights abuses in various parts of the country.

Therefore, he said, the rights body is now preparing the process for establishing such a commission.

According to Marzuki, the military has to give a "promising response" to the establishment of the commission.

"We're now in the phase of exploring and also of probing as well as preparing the public for the need for a commission to heal victims' feelings about their traumatic pasts," Marzuki said.

However, he predicted that the commission would only be set up following the establishment of a new government, while cautiously adding that there may be a need for legal endorsement as well.

Marzuki hinted that the South African commission was most likely a suitable model for Indonesia.

In South Africa the commission, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was set up following prolonged discussions and public debate in an attempt to forge national reconciliation in 1995. (emf)