T

he government has said that a 15-member committee tasked with investigating past human rights abuses will be ready shortly after the Idul Fitri holiday.

The committee will investigate the causes of past human rights abuses and propose non-judicial resolutions.

The decision was made following a closed-door meeting between Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H Laoly, Attorney General M Prasetyo, National Intelligence Agency (BIN) head Marciano Norman, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Moeldoko and National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Nur Kholis.

Nur revealed that the committee would include retired Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police personnel.

'€œWe discussed the establishment of a truth-finding committee. We will propose a 15-member committee that will answer directly to the President,'€ he said on Thursday at the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) headquarters in South Jakarta.

Nur said that it was important to involve the TNI and the National Police on the committee, as many accusations had been directed against them.

He added that the presence of Moeldoko in the meeting, after the latter had missed two previous meetings, was a good sign. '€œThis is the first time Pak Moeldoko has joined. It shows that Pak Moeldoko is becoming more open to it.'€

The committee will also comprise members of the AGO, Komnas HAM, civil society groups and families of victims.

It will not investigate individual cases, focusing instead on detecting patterns of wrongdoing committed by the state against civilians.

'€œIt is important to find out what went wrong and why before we can try to resolve [the cases],'€ Nur said.

The committee is also expected to suggest ways to compensate victims and their families.

Following years of investigation, Komnas HAM published reports in 2013 citing seven unresolved cases of past rights abuses, namely the 1989 Talangsari massacre, the disappearance of anti-Soeharto activists in 1997-1998, the Trisakti University shootings, the Semanggi I and II shootings in 1998 and 1999, the mysterious killing of alleged criminals in the 1980s, the communist purge of 1965-1966 and abuses in Papuan towns Wasior in 2001 and Wamena in 2003.

Komnas HAM has submitted the reports to the AGO for further investigation, but no further steps have been taken as prosecutors debate technical issues regarding the implementation of recommendations from the report.

Separately, Prasetyo said that he hoped that the establishment of the committee could resolve major rights abuses in the country.

'€œWe hope that everyone agrees that these past human rights abuses must be resolved as soon as possible, at the very least by the time the current administration ends its term,'€ he said.

After the committee submitted its findings, the attorney general said, the government was expected to make a public apology to the victims of the past rights abuses and make a commitment to ensuring that such events were not repeated.

'€œIn past meetings, we tended to agree that non-judicial mechanisms would be much more effective,'€ he added.

Meanwhile, Moeldoko said that the TNI had agreed to help the committee in its tasks.

Moeldoko, who is to retire in August, acknowledged that many had accused the TNI of playing a central role in past gross human rights abuses. However, he said that such a negative outlook would not help the country resolve its problems.

'€œWe should never forget our history, but we should forgive, in order to bring about closure,'€ he said.