Truth needed to reconcile the past: Golkar Party
Truth needed to reconcile the past: Golkar Party
Abu Hanifah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Golkar Party, which many political observers say is a
legacy of the authoritarian and corrupt New Order regime, has put
forward the idea of establishing a national truth and
reconciliation commission.
Golkar legislator Rully Chairul Azwar told an Assembly session
on Monday that a commission would provide the means for a coming
to terms with the nation's past on a morally acceptable basis and
would advance the cause of reconciliation.
"Amid this euphoria of democracy, a truth and reconciliation
commission would be a good forum to reconcile all the segments
fractured in the past," he said.
In fact Golkar's idea is nothing new. Many human rights and
law activists have floated the idea of a South African-style
commission.
The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
was formed in 1995 by the Government of National Unity to help
deal with the problems that stemmed from the apartheid era.
The conflict during that period resulted in violence and human
rights abuses involving all sides.
The South African TRC carries out its mandates through three
committees: the Human Rights Violations Committee, which
investigates human rights abuses that took place between 1960 and
1994; the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee, which provides
victim support to ensure that the Truth Commission process
restores victims' dignity and an Amnesty Committee, which sees to
it that applications for amnesty are dealt with in accordance
with the provisions of the Reconciliation Act.
Golkar's proposal has won commendation from human rights
activist Munir and legislators from the largest faction in the
legislature, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan).
Munir, founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence, said that the commission was what Indonesia
needed now, as the judiciary system had been unable to cope with
the large number of human rights abuses in the past.
"People need to know what actually happened in the past, as it
has never been honestly explained," he said.
The commission that Indonesia needs is probably not exactly
the same as the South African one because the two countries are
historically and culturally different.
"In South Africa, the violence and abuses were caused by
discrimination and their fight against the apartheid policy. Here
in Indonesia, the violence concerns abuses of power involving the
military.
"Furthermore, many cases of rights abuse were quite specific,"
Munir explained.
Posdam Hutasoit, a legislator from PDI Perjuangan, said his
faction and others had given support to the proposal.
But legislator Faisal Baasir from the United Development Party
(PPP) faction was skeptical that Golkar's proposal would work
because in his opinion the whole system was fundamentally flawed
and Indonesia had no central figure like South Africa's Nelson
Mandela.
"No matter how sophisticated the system, if we do not have
reliable institutions, nothing can work," Faisal said.
Abu Hanifah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Golkar Party, which many political observers say is a
legacy of the authoritarian and corrupt New Order regime, has put
forward the idea of establishing a national truth and
reconciliation commission.
Golkar legislator Rully Chairul Azwar told an Assembly session
on Monday that a commission would provide the means for a coming
to terms with the nation's past on a morally acceptable basis and
would advance the cause of reconciliation.
"Amid this euphoria of democracy, a truth and reconciliation
commission would be a good forum to reconcile all the segments
fractured in the past," he said.
In fact Golkar's idea is nothing new. Many human rights and
law activists have floated the idea of a South African-style
commission.
The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
was formed in 1995 by the Government of National Unity to help
deal with the problems that stemmed from the apartheid era.
The conflict during that period resulted in violence and human
rights abuses involving all sides.
The South African TRC carries out its mandates through three
committees: the Human Rights Violations Committee, which
investigates human rights abuses that took place between 1960 and
1994; the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee, which provides
victim support to ensure that the Truth Commission process
restores victims' dignity and an Amnesty Committee, which sees to
it that applications for amnesty are dealt with in accordance
with the provisions of the Reconciliation Act.
Golkar's proposal has won commendation from human rights
activist Munir and legislators from the largest faction in the
legislature, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan).
Munir, founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence, said that the commission was what Indonesia
needed now, as the judiciary system had been unable to cope with
the large number of human rights abuses in the past.
"People need to know what actually happened in the past, as it
has never been honestly explained," he said.
The commission that Indonesia needs is probably not exactly
the same as the South African one because the two countries are
historically and culturally different.
"In South Africa, the violence and abuses were caused by
discrimination and their fight against the apartheid policy. Here
in Indonesia, the violence concerns abuses of power involving the
military.
"Furthermore, many cases of rights abuse were quite specific,"
Munir explained.
Posdam Hutasoit, a legislator from PDI Perjuangan, said his
faction and others had given support to the proposal.
But legislator Faisal Baasir from the United Development Party
(PPP) faction was skeptical that Golkar's proposal would work
because in his opinion the whole system was fundamentally flawed
and Indonesia had no central figure like South Africa's Nelson
Mandela.
"No matter how sophisticated the system, if we do not have
reliable institutions, nothing can work," Faisal said.