President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed his commitment to resolving human rights violation cases in the country.
The President expressed his views on the issue during a meeting with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and representatives of the victims of chief human rights violation. Victims of cases such as the 1984 Tanjung Priok case, the 1989 Talangsari case, the 1998 Trisakti-Semanggi I case, the 1997 activist abduction and the May 1998 riot case were represented.
"We received a positive response from the President. I think this is the first positive response he's ever made to human rights issues since he assumed his presidency. This is also his first meeting with the all the representatives of major human rights violation victims," Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Wednesday.
Hamid said the meeting with the President was originally scheduled for half an hour but lasted one hour.
"The President asked for details such as the condition of the survivors and the position of the gross violation cases," he said.
Presidential spokesperson Andi Malarangeng said President Yudhoyono would hold a special cabinet meeting to address gross violation cases.
The representatives of the human rights violation victims welcomed the President's commitment.
"We told the President how we struggled to find justice for our relatives," said Sumarsih, whose late son Wawan died during a military shooting of students, a case known as Semanggi I.
Sumarsih, who routinely stages a protest outside the Presidential Palace every Thursday to ask for government commitment to resolving the Semanggi I case, said she believed the President's words. (mvm)
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