Unlike other government institutions, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has warmly welcomed the International People’s Tribunal’s (IPT) verdict finding the state of Indonesia guilty of crimes against humanity in 1965.

The verdict stated that the state committed nine crimes against humanity, including massacres, forced disappearances, enslavement and sexual abuse. The commissioners said the verdict, read out in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday, had some similarities to findings of the commission, except the part about genocide.

“We should not consider the IPT verdict as intervention in Indonesia’s internal affairs. We should be thankful instead because the international community paid attention to the case,” Komnas HAM commission Nurkholis said on Monday.

Komnas HAM chairman M. Imdadun Rahmat said the rights commission had submitted seven cases of human rights violations to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) for investigation, six of them related to past human rights cases, including the one in 1965. He said further that testimonies from 499 witnesses were solicited during an almost four-year investigation it conducted from 2008 to 2012.
“However, none of reports submitted to the AGO have ever been processed. We have always faced a deadlock because there was different interpretations of the law between Komnas HAM and the AGO,” he said.

He added that the different perceptions of the commission and the AGO included the approach of the law. The commission believed the case should be approached through the law on human rights violations, but the AGO insisted it was a civil case. The different perceptions has prolonged the process of settlement of human rights abuses.

“Indonesia still doesn’t have a comprehensive concept in solving past human rights cases, therefore efforts by the parties were not synchronized,” Nurkholis said, while citing that attempts to dig up burial plots of victims of the 1965 tragedy were not backed by the law.

The now non-active Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) would have helped to resolve the issue as it was aimed at settling human rights cases, Imdadun added, referring to a body that was dissolved by the repealing of a law by the Constitutional Court in 2006.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, however, said that reestablishing the KKR was unnecessary because the government had taken steps to solve the case, referring to a symposium held by the Office of the Coordinating Political, Law and Security Affairs Minister in February.

Office spokesman Efendy added that the verdict might cause internal conflict in the country and demanded that the issue be toned down.

A group that advocates for victims of the 1965 purge visited the Komnas HAM office on Monday to report the IPT verdict on the purge, which was believed to have claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people allegedly linked to the now-defunct Indonesian Communism Party (PKI).

In its ruling, the IPT suggested the Indonesian government apologize and provide reconciliation and rehabilitation for the victims.

Monday’s visit was also meant to seek support after many high-ranking officials dismissed the verdict. The administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who during the 2014 presidential election campaign pledged to resolve cases of past human rights violations, has announced that the verdict was not legally binding and urged the public to refer only to the recommendations of the National 1965 Symposium issued in April.

Komnas HAM commissioner Roichatul Aswidah said the commission would continue to fight for justice for victims, and emphasized that although the verdict was not legally binding, it was morally binding.

“Although we heard the verdict on Wednesday, we just received the official document today. We need time to evaluate it before taking further steps,” Roichatul said, adding that the rights commission would visit the AGO to discuss the matter on Tuesday. (fac)

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