P

resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo reaffirmed his commitment to continue promoting the protection of human rights during an event held to commemorate International Human Rights Day on Friday, amid little progress in his effort to resolve past human rights abuses.

In his speech to human rights campaigners, local leaders and senior government officials, Jokowi reiterated '€œthe government'€™s commitment to continue supporting all efforts to meet basic human rights in the country'€, although he acknowledged that many problems related to human rights remain unresolved, including past gross violations of human rights and agrarian conflicts.

This year'€™s event, jointly organized by the Law and Human Rights Ministry and the government-sanctioned National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), took place at the State Palace.

The President also expressed his hope for '€œall government officials, whether those of the central government or local administrations, to expedite works to settle problems related to human rights'€.

Jokowi ordered the officials to promote reconciliation and look for legal breakthroughs in resolving human rights abuses.

'€œWe all must have the courage, and I repeat, the courage to embark on reconciliation and also to seek breakthroughs in resolving the cases through judicial channels, as well as non-judicial [measures],'€ Jokowi said, adding that Komnas HAM, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary played crucial roles in resolving the cases.

Successive administrations have committed to resolving past human rights abuses, but no significant progress has been made as the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) has never followed up on the results of investigations conducted by Komnas HAM.

The AGO has argued that Komnas HAM investigations have failed to come up with enough evidence.

On Friday, Attorney General HM Prasetyo said that it would be more effective if past rights abuses were solved through a non-judicial approach, or reconciliation.

'€œWell, since many of those cases happened a long time ago we found it hard to find evidence, witnesses and suspects,'€ Prasetyo said on the sidelines of the event. '€œSo, don'€™t insist on using legal avenues or judicial channels.'€

Prasetyo also invited human rights campaigners to carry out talks with prosecutors handling the human rights cases and to see their progress in investigating the Komnas HAM reports, so they could attain first-hand knowledge on what has hampered investigations.

As for progress in the reconciliation approach, Prasetyo declined to comment on when it would produce results, and only said that his office had been engaged in dialogue with various parties, including Komnas HAM.

Human rights campaigner Haris Azhar from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), who attended the event, challenged Jokowi to start taking real action in resolving human rights cases.

'€œMy hope is that he [the President] can start carrying out [his commitment],'€ Haris said. '€œIf he said courage was the only thing needed [in resolving past human rights abuse cases], well, he should address the statement himself,'€ Haris said.

In his speech during the event, Komnas HAM chairman Nur Kholis said that his office and other relevant ministries and institutions, as well as civil society groups and the victims, had continued their efforts to resolve past gross human rights violations, deeming such efforts '€œas follow-ups to the President'€™s commitment made during last years'€™ commemoration of Human Rights Day'€.

Nur also singled out the National Police as the institution responsible for the largest number of violations of human rights over the last five years.

In his speech, Jokowi responded by saying that '€œI know that the police get the most complaints, so while the National Police chief is also here, we need to see concrete efforts to improve the corps with regards to human rights.'€

National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti shrugged off the complaint, saying that it was the police that upheld laws and regulations.

He said that on the issue of freedom of expression, police only cracked down on street protests that took place without prior notification, including one demanding the independence of West Papua in Jakarta recently, which resulted in clashes between the police and protesters.

Badrodin said the police were allowed to use the seven-stages of measures in dispersing crowds, including tear gas and water cannon.