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Reconciliation best solution to past rights abuses: Attorney General
Although President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration has yet to formally discuss measures taken to end prolonged unresolved human rights abuses in the past, Attorney General HM Prasetyo has suggested ruling out the judicial process
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A
lthough President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration has yet to formally discuss measures taken to end prolonged unresolved human rights abuses in the past, Attorney General HM Prasetyo has suggested ruling out the judicial process.
In his speech in a seminar discussing challenges to law enforcement in Indonesia at the House of Representatives on Thursday, Prasetyo cited the length of time since many of the incidents as the most challenging factor in the attempt to reopen investigations.
"So reconciliation is the best solution to settle [cases of rights violations that occurred in the past]," Prasetyo said, without adding more details.
The unresolved cases of human-rights violations consist of the 1989 Talangsari massacre, the forced disappearances of anti-Soeharto activists in 1997 and 1998, the Trisakti University shootings, the Semanggi I and Semanggi II student shootings in 1998 and 1999, the mysterious killing of alleged criminals in the 1980s, the anti-communist massacres of 1965 and various abuses that took place in Was I or and Wamena in Papua in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
Prasetyo's remarks seem to contradict a previously revealed plan to set up human rights tribunals to hear such cases.
In his speech, Prasetyo, a former NasDem Party politician, also highlighted the problems of funding needed to establish such tribunals.
"So it is not because we don't want to resolve these cases. But we are carefully handling the matter because we don't want to disappoint any related parties," he stressed.
