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Victims, families urge Jokowi to rewrite history on rights abuse
As the government hedges around its next move in resolving past rights abuses, victims and their families are growing more vocal about pushing for their stories to be written down in the country's annals.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (center) talks with family members of victims of human rights violations during a reconciliation event on June 27, 2023 at Bili Aron village in Pidie, Aceh province. (AFP/Adi Gondrong)
T
he program launched by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to settle past cases of gross human rights violations is missing the point over its failure to address the crucial issue of rewriting the official version of Indonesia’s history, say critics and victims’ families.
Rewriting the country’s history by including past human rights abuses was among the 11 recommendations issued in December by the government-sanctioned nonjudicial settlement team, led by veteran diplomat and human rights activist Makarim Wibisono. The team was formed in August 2022 after Jokowi announced a plan to resolve gross human rights violations through nonjudicial means.
The team’s first recommendation was for the government to acknowledge that the state was culpable for past human rights abuses and to express regret over 12 incidents, including the 1965 massacre, torturing civilians in Aceh during its military operation against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the 1998 riots in Jakarta.
President Jokowi quickly followed up in January by expressing regret over the government’s responsibility in the 12 incidents.
The team’s second recommendation was for the government to reformulate the narrative on past atrocities by including the victims’ side of the story.
Read also: Amnesty International wants accountability for past atrocities
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD said last week that he had tasked another ministry with researching the past cases of gross human rights violations. However, he emphasized that the study, to be led by the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry, would not affect the government’s policies.
