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uman rights activists have criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration for its poor achievement in resolving human rights violations, saying the nation is going nowhere with its
human rights issues.

“Many regulations issued by various state institutions fail to guarantee that the government will strive to solve past human rights violation cases,” Ifdhal Kashim, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said on the sidelines of a discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Indonesia, he said, already had a set of regulations that obligated the government to investigate and reveal what actually happened in the past.

One example, Ifdhal said, was the Peoples Consultative Assembly’s (MPR) decree No. V/MPR/2000 on National Unity Advancement, which required the government to reveal the truth about the nation’s history. If it is found that the government committed wrongdoings, then it was expected to make an apology.

Today, 12 years since its issuance, there has been no significant achievement in the settlement of human rights violation cases.

“The government and the House of Representatives should determine new methods to uncover past human rights violations,” he said, adding that institutions could no longer rely on existing regulations.

The current regulations seemingly fail to guarantee that the government will apologize for political misconduct.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto stated last week that the killings in 1965-1966 were “justified”.

Djoko also refused to apologize to the victims although Komnas HAM, following its four years of study, recently stated that the purge amounted to a gross human rights violation.

The government even rejected several recommendations made at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) summit in May, at which Indonesia was urged to repeal laws and regulations that
curtailed religious freedom.

The country, in trying to save its image, readdressed the UNHRC in September, stating that it would soon draw up a bill on the founding of a truth and reconciliation commission to deal with past human rights violations.

Aside from trials, the government had many options to deliver justice to the victims of human rights violations, he said. For example, the government could compensate or rehabilitate them.

“But, the government could also apologize for past regimes’ misconduct,” he said.

Meanwhile, a researcher with the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), Zainal Abidin, said that if the government allowed the perpetrators of human rights abuses to remain free, others would be inspired to carry out similar actions.

“Members of the majority continue to torture and persecute minorities, like Shia and Ahmadiyah followers, because they think they will receive no punishments,” Zainal said. (riz)