Reconciliation bill held up in state secretary: Yusril

Reconciliation bill held up in state secretary: Yusril

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An expected truth and reconciliation commission that would deal
with the country's past human rights abuses out of court will not
be established in the near future, an official has announced.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said
on Monday that the bill on a truth and reconciliation commission,
which had supposedly reached the House of Representatives for
deliberation, was stuck at the State Secretariat.

"I sent the bill six months ago. It was supposed to be
deliberated by the House, but the State Secretary has not
informed me if there is something wrong," he told reporters after
a seminar on Transnational Justice, the Past Experiences of South
Africa and Indonesia.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the several articles on
compensation," Yusril said when asked about the reasons behind
the bill's suspension.

He disclosed that some of the articles in the bill stipulate
that the state has to compensate the victims of human rights
violations in the past and that the perpetrators were to be
granted amnesty.

"The State Secretary has to be wary if the government pays out
compensation to millions of victims. But the draft does not
specifically mention the amount of compensation as that is to be
determined by the government," he said, adding that the
government should have issued a special regulation about the
compensation issue.

Yusril said that according to the bill, the establishment of
the commission was mandatory in a bid to reconcile both sides in
human rights cases, including the alleged mass killing during the
1965 coup by the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"We are talking about an out-of-court settlement in a bid to
reveal the real history here, no matter how painful it is. We all
have to be able to forgive, otherwise, we wouldn't be able to
move into a better phase," he said.

The incident claimed millions of lives, including the
supporters and those who opposed the PKI.

Indonesia started drafting the bill two years ago following
the establishment of Law No. 26/1999 on human rights trials,
which mandates the establishment of a truth and reconciliation
commission as an alternative to the court system.

Several experts have conducted comparative studies in several
countries, including South Africa, in a bid to draft the bill.

South African Justice and Constitutional Development Minister
Panuelle Mpapa Maduna shared his country's experiences with the
seminar's participants, saying that the most important thing was
learning how to assist the victims of human rights abuses.

"If we're talking about compensating the victims, money is not
the matter. What is more important is how to assist them in
rebuilding their lives, making a better life for them," he said,
adding that his country was continuing its efforts for national
reconciliation.

Maduna is known as the architect of the commission in South
Africa, which managed to bring reconciliation to the country
following the collapse of the Apartheid regime in 1992.