W

ith only one week before the 50th anniversary of 1965 communist purge, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) acknowledged that no progress had been made in the attempt to establish a joint team to settle past rights abuses since its last meeting with all relevant institutions in early July.

Komnas HAM chairman Nur Kholis told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the commission had yet to meet with Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan since he replaced Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno last month to continue talks on how the proposed team should begin its work.

'€œWe have not met with the minister yet and last Thursday was supposed to be our first meeting. However, he postponed the meeting as he had another commitment with President Jokowi [Joko Widodo],'€ Nur Kholis said.

However, Nur Kholis said he remained optimistic about the prospect of the team'€™s establishment.

'€œWe have already made agreements during those past [three] meetings. All that we can hope for is that we are committed to moving forward and resolving the cases. It is the only way forward for the country,'€ he said.

In the last meeting held at the headquarters of the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) in South Jakarta, Tedjo said that the 15-member team would include representatives from the AGO, the Law and Human Rights Ministry, the National Police, the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Komnas HAM.

At the time, Attorney General HM Prasetyo said that the team would most likely try to resolve the rights issues via non-judicial mechanisms because of complex technical problems such as gathering evidence that would likely stymie any potential judicial solution.

The government has committed to resolving seven past human rights violations; the 1989 Talangsari incident in Central Lampung, the 2001 and 2003 Wamena and Wasior incidents in Papua, various kidnappings and unresolved shootings in the 1980s, the 1965 communist massacre and the 1998 May riots.

Komnas HAM has launched its own investigations into the cases but its recommendations have never been followed up by the AGO.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Muhammadiyah secretary general Abdul Mu'€™ti told reporters that Jokowi did not plan to issue an apology to the victims and families of the 1965 communist purge.

The statement was made following a closed-door meeting between a number of newly elected ex-
ecutives of the country'€™s second largest Muslim organization with Jokowi at the State Palace on Tuesday.

'€œOne last thing, we asked for clarification from the President regarding the news that the government would issue a statement of apology to the PKI [Indonesian Communist Party]. It turned out that he said there was neither a schedule, nor even the thought [of offering an apology],'€ Mu'€™ti said.

Mu'€™ti said Jokowi issued no further statement regarding the purported plan.

'€œBut, I believe he has his own principles on issues related to G30S [PKI'€™s coup attempt]. Muhammadiyah, NU [Nahdlatul Ulama] and other Islamic mass organizations are in the position of supporting the government'€™s stance, including the stance of the TNI,'€ he said. '€œSo that he [Jokowi] said '€˜if we apologize to the G30S victims, we will be dealing with Muhammadiyah, NU and TNI'€™. That is what he [Jokowi] said.'€

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said such an apology had never been discussed during any cabinet meetings, adding that '€œthe point is that he has not given it much thought. What he is currently thinking about is how to immediately overcome the effects of a global economic slowdown,'€ he said.

TNI chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo refused to comment on Muhammadiyah'€™s statement.

Last month, anti-PKI protests took place in a number of cities following rumors that Jokowi planned to deliver an official apology to families and victims of the 1965 purge during his speech to commemorate the country'€™s 70th anniversary.

Separately, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) criticized Muhammadiyah'€™s statement and said that it was the state'€™s responsibility to deliver an apology over the 1965 purge.

'€œ[The government must] straighten out history and officially, through the state, apologize to the victims for their terrible experiences,'€ Kontras research division head Puri Kencana Putri said on Tuesday.
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