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Settlement of rights cases hampered by commission, AGO’s differing interpretation
The different legal bases used by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has hampered the country’s efforts to resolve cases of human rights violations, a rights activist says.
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An observer wears a Munir mask during a public hearing on the openness of information on the 2004 murder of the human rights defender at the Central Information Commission (KIP) in Jakarta on Oct.10. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
Marguerite Afra Sapiie
The different legal bases used by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has hampered the country’s efforts to resolve cases of human rights violations, a rights activist says.
Former Papua Komnas HAM deputy chief Matius Murib said the rights body used human rights law to address the complexity of rights abuses issues, while the AGO approached such cases by referring to the Criminal Code (KUHP), a common basis for law enforcement.
“When the evidence gathered [by Komnas HAM] through human rights law is brought to the AGO and is verified through the KUHP, it cannot be synchronized. How can human rights issues be handled with criminal law?” Matius told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The unsynchronized process was why the government had been sluggish in resolving human rights cases, Matius said, adding that he believed Komnas HAM and AGO officials actually had the competency if only both institutions used the same legal basis.
He further called for the government to synchronize the laws used by the two institutions to resolve human rights cases.
Previously, the government had vowed to settle six major human rights violations, namely the 1965 communist purge, 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, and the disappearances of activists around the time of the May 1998 riots.
