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Rights concerns arise after Jokowi-Prabowo meeting
Activists have criticized a recent meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his former challenger Prabowo Subianto, saying that it was a political maneuver that risks further pushing human rights issues to the side during the President’s second term
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span>Activists have criticized a recent meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his former challenger Prabowo Subianto, saying that it was a political maneuver that risks further pushing human rights issues to the side during the President’s second term.
The longtime political rivals met in public for the first time since the election in Jakarta on Saturday, with both signaling that Prabowo could eventually join Jokowi’s ruling coalition after the hard-fought presidential race.
Lokataru Legal and Human Rights Foundation executive director Haris Azhar refused to use the “reconciliation” term that had been thrown around by the two parties and instead described the meeting as mere negotiations between two politicians of similar interests.
Haris suggested that both Jokowi and Prabowo were on the same page in terms of human rights, claiming that neither was willing to tackle important issues, such as the persecution and discrimination of Ahmadiyah followers and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, cases of abuse in Papua and the stigmatization of past members and supporters of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
“For the next five years, human rights can only advance if [the initiative] comes from Jokowi’s own group and when the issues raised do not disrupt the establishment of his people,” he said during a discussion forum in Jakarta on Thursday.
In his first presidential bid, Jokowi promised to resolve at least seven cases of past human rights violations, including the 1965 communist purge and the May 1998 riots, earning him support from civil society groups, especially as he was running against a former military general with a checkered human rights record.
However, criticisms arose as activists and families of victims grew disillusioned with the government for its sluggish efforts in addressing the issues. Jokowi, however, reiterated his commitment to dealing with human rights cases during his second term, though he acknowledged that it would not be easy given the timestamp of the incidents.
Haris argued that Jokowi and Prabowo had abandoned the stances they held on human rights during the campaign period, with both now trying to reach deals over strategic posts without taking into account their respective constituencies.
Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) national board chairman Iwan Nurdin raised a similar concern, noting that as opposition members were looking to secure Cabinet posts, the Jokowi administration would have to adjust its political goals.
“What should be noted is that if programs are exchanged between the two camps, then [Jokowi’s] ideal plans related to human rights might have to be neglected,” Iwan said.
He added that Jokowi needed to take land reform seriously, so that more land conflicts could be prevented and local communities could have equal access to natural resources, allowing them to live better lives.
Iwan noted that the Jokowi administration had stopped short of dealing with the issue of distributing land to those without any, as promised in Nawa Cita, the President’s nine-point development program.
In the second presidential debate, Prabowo challenged the program, which he deemed unsustainable, suggesting that all resources should belong to the state.
Jokowi, however, was quick to rebuke the former Army general by revealing that the latter had control of thousands of hectares of land himself. Prabowo admitted to owning the cultivation rights of land, but then brought up the issue of land concessions managed by political elites, including Jokowi’s close aide Luhut Pandjaitan.
“There will certainly be conflicts of interests, but the potential for reform is still there. It can start with soft reform [...] Jokowi should also pick as the environment and forestry minister and agrarian and spatial planning minister competent people with no political or business interests,” Iwan said.
Director of feminist publication Jurnal Perempuan, Atnike N. Sigiro, said the polarization previously created by the two camps made it difficult for human rights issues to enter the public sphere. Talks on human rights are deemed political, with voters of both camps accusing activists of taking sides every time they bring up cases of human rights violations.
The draconian revision of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law would also create problems in the next five years, she said.
“Activists have begun [to practice] self-censorship over issues that should be championed, because basic rights like the freedom of expression have been threatened,” Atnike said.
