President asked to state govt human rights agenda

President asked to state govt human rights agenda

JAKARTA (JP): The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims
of Violence (Kontras) has called on newly elected President
Abdurrahman Wahid to explain his government's human rights
agenda.

Kontras deputy coordinator Ori Rahman said many human rights
abuses committed by the New Order government should be resolved
by the new administration.

The present government "cannot run from its political
responsibility" with regard to human rights abuses committed by
the previous administration, Ori told a media conference.

"A delay or failure in resolving past cases of human rights
abuses will create new legal uncertainty," said Ori, whose
organization has been active in representing relatives of missing
people and victims of human rights abuses in Aceh.

"At the end of the day, it is the victims who will suffer if
these cases are not resolved," he said.

The election of Abdurrahman, or Gus Dur as he is better known,
and his vice president Megawati Soekarnoputri last week raised
hopes for a better human rights record in Indonesia since both
have been at the forefront in fighting for democracy.

But Kontras withheld its endorsement, saying that both figures
had failed to clearly express their human rights agenda.

"We've not heard any tangible measure that the government is
going to implement with regard to human rights abuses committed
during the New Order government," Ori said.

The violence in Aceh and Maluku, the shooting of Trisakti
University students in Jakarta in May last year, the abductions
of student activists in the last months of the Soeharto regime,
and the shooting of students near the Semanggi cloverleaf in
Jakarta in November last year and earlier this month are a few of
the more recent cases of abuses. The list grows longer if one
includes the abuses committed since the New Order took power in
1966.

Early this year, before his election to the presidency,
Abdurrahman broached the idea of establishing a truth and
reconciliation commission, modeled on post-apartheid South
Africa, to deal with past human rights abuses.

He has not mentioned the idea since his election last week.

Kontras said the new government should give priority to
dealing with human right abuses in the provinces to dowse
separatist sentiments and ease tension in the regions. (byg)