Ministry of Human Rights pushes for national human rights institutions forum through revised Human Rights Law
The Ministry of Human Rights (HAM) is pushing for the establishment of a national human rights institutions forum through the revision of the Human Rights Law to strengthen coordination in case handling, protection of vulnerable groups, and continuity of work among human rights oversight bodies.
Ministry of Human Rights expert Siti Aminah said the forum would serve as a coordination platform between the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM), National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), and the National Commission on Disability (KND).
“The draft Human Rights Law includes a mandate to establish a national human rights institutions forum,” Siti Aminah said during a public hearing on the Human Rights Law revision in Jakarta on Monday.
She added that the forum’s structure is based on existing cooperation practices among national human rights institutions, including in issues such as torture prevention and handling sexual violence crimes (TPKS).
“We have abstracted the collaborative experiences of these four national human rights institutions and incorporated them into the draft law as a best practice,” she said.
Siti explained that cross-institutional coordination has already been implemented, including through the Coalition for Torture Prevention (KuPP) and joint monitoring under the Sexual Violence Crimes Law.
“These four national institutions conduct joint monitoring and develop instruments together,” she said.
She cited the Ferdy Sambo case, where Komnas HAM involved Komnas Perempuan due to the sexual violence element in the case.
“This mechanism must be established. When handling suspected human rights violations requiring expertise from specific thematic national human rights institutions, Komnas HAM is obligated to involve them,” she said.
Siti added that the communication forum aims to maintain inter-institutional coordination even when leadership changes occur in each national human rights commission.
“The goal is for these institutions to build on best practices to ensure continuity in national human rights leadership,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Human Rights expert Ifdhal Kasim stressed that the Human Rights Law revision does not weaken Komnas HAM but strengthens its functions and powers.
“Essentially, no powers are being reduced; instead, Komnas HAM’s authorities are being expanded,” he said.
He explained the strengthened powers include investigative authority, subpoena power, amicus curiae rights, and surprise monitoring of detention facilities.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Human Rights Secretary-General Novita Ilmaris said the Human Rights Law revision has been included in the 2026 national legislative priority and is targeted for immediate discussion with the House of Representatives.
“We hope and it is our collective hope that the Human Rights Law draft will be enacted in 2026,” she said.