P

eople’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Zulkifli Hasan has agreed to deliver a proposal by rights activists to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to accelerate efforts to resolve past human rights abuse cases.

After a meeting with representatives of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Zulkifli said he supported the proposal to create a presidential committee consisting of rights experts who could assist the President in drafting ways to settle the cases.

“We don’t want the cases to become a historical burden. We want them to be resolved with comprehensive solutions. I will deliver the proposal to the President,” Zulkifli told journalists on Wednesday.

KontraS coordinator Haris Azhar said the committee, which would consist of fewer than 10 people with a specific work period, could produce recommendations for Jokowi to settle the abuses case through a judicial mechanism.

However, should the circumstances require the cases to be resolved through non-judicial mechanism, the committee could provide detailed solutions on how the process could take place as well as who should be assigned by the President to lead the efforts, Haris said.

In mid-2016, then chief security minister Luhut Pandjaitan said the government would push efforts to settle six past human rights cases, namely the 1965 Communist purge, the Talangsari massacre, the Trisakti, Semanggi I and II shootings and the disappearance of pro-democracy activists.