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New Komnas HAM commissioners face uphill battle
With a backlog of unresolved human rights violations and continuing violence in Papua, the nine new National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) members have their work cut out for them.
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Human rights activists hold a rally in front of the State Palace in Jakarta, demanding justice for past human rights abuses in this undated photo. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan)
W
ith a backlog of unresolved human rights violations and continuing violence in Papua, the nine new National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) members approved on Tuesday have their work cut out for them.
They were confirmed in a House of Representatives plenary meeting after being interviewed and selected the day before by lawmakers on House Commission III overseeing legal affairs. Commission III had chosen the nominees out of a pool of 14 candidates previously vetted by an independent panel.
Lawmakers named scholar and women’s rights defender Atnike Nova Sigiro the chair of Komnas HAM, making her the first woman to lead the commission.
Migrant worker rights defender Anis Hidayah, legal aid lawyer Hari Kurniawan, agrarian researcher Saurlin P Siagian and Uli Parulian Sihombing, a director of an NGO focused on law, are among the new commissioners. The others are General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Pramono Ubaid Tanthowi, former Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) chairman Abdul Haris Semendawai, Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) commissioner Putu Elvina and Prabianto Mukti Wibowo, the assistant deputy for forestry at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister.
They have been appointed for a term of five years from November.
“For the chair, we agreed to choose Atnike Nova Sigiro to demonstrate affirmative action for women,” Commission III chairman Bambang Wuryanto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said during a meeting to select the new commissioners on Monday.
Two incumbent commissioners – Amiruddin and Beka Ulung Hapsara – were among the 14 nominees, but they failed to get lawmakers’ approval for a second term.
