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Government sincere in solving past rights abuses: Jokowi
The President has emphasized his administration's sincerity in settling past rights abuses, in a speech he delivered on Tuesday while visiting the site of the Rumoh Geudong tragedy in Aceh.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (left) speaks on Sept. 20, 2019 at the State Palace in Jakarta, accompanied by State Secretary Pratikno, as he announces a delay in the passage of new legislation that will outlaw gay and premarital sex. (AFP/Presidential Palace)
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span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US">President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said his administration was sincere about its efforts to solve gross human rights violations of the past, adding that the goodwill measure would be appreciated by victims of past atrocities.
"Once again, I have to say that the government is sincere in its intention to solve past human rights abuses in our country, according to the recommendations from the PPHAM," President Jokowi said on Tuesday at the site of the Rumoh Geudong tragedy in Pidie, Aceh.
He was referring to the Nonjudicial Resolution Team for Past Serious Human Rights Violations, which the government set up last year under Presidential Decree No. 17/2022.
Like many countries in the world, Indonesia also had to contend with some dark chapters in its history, the President said.
"Some events were good, but some were bad. This is normal. I think other countries in the world also experience this," Jokowi said.
In January, he acknowledged and apologized for 12 incidents of gross human rights violations that occurred between 1965 and 2003.
The presidential acknowledgment followed the recommendations of the PPHAM, led by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD.
The President is following up on the formal acknowledgment by embarking on a tour across the country as well as to a number of European countries to meet with and apologize directly to victims of past rights abuses.
On Tuesday, Jokowi visited the site of the Rumoh Geudong tragedy in Aceh, where the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) found strong evidence of crimes against humanity that occurred from 1989 to 1998 and implicated the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus).
