The President made the surprise announcement on Wednesday, fulfilling the recommendations of a nonjudicial resolution team led by veteran diplomat and human rights activist Makarim Wibisono, acknowledging that 12 major incidents of violence and repression in the country from 1965 to 2003 had amounted to gross human rights violations.

They include the anticommunist purge of 1965-66, which killed, according to some estimates by historians and activists, at least 500,000 people.

“I have sympathy and empathy for the victims and their families,” Jokowi said in a broadcast address.

But this was not enough for the protesters of the Kamisan movement, who for nearly 16 years gathered in front of the Presidential Palace every Thursday to press the government to reckon with past atrocities. Many were relatives of victims of gross human rights abuses largely ignored by the state.

“The statement of acknowledgement and regret by the President means nothing without concrete steps toward legal accountability,” said Maria Catarina Sumarsih, a Kamisan protester, in a statement on Thursday.

Sumarsih’s son, Benardinus “Wawan” Realino Norma Irawan, was among those who died during massive student protests in November 1998, in what became known as the Semanggi I tragedy. Since then, she has been fighting for justice alongside other victims’ families.

While the Semanggi I and related Semanggi II tragedies were part of the 12 gross human rights violations recently acknowledged by the government, Sumarsih questioned the exclusion of other major incidents, including the Tanjung Priok tragedy.

On Sep. 12, 1984, in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, security forces fired on Muslim protesters demonstrating against a new regulation requiring all organizations to adopt Pancasila, the state ideology. Efforts to deliver restitution for the victims have been largely unsuccessful, partially because the number of people killed remains a point of contention.

Civil society groups, too, noted the apparent lack of legal force in the announcement.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) said restitution had to go hand in hand with a clear road map on judicial settlement.

The group added that Jokowi’s gesture would do little more than boost his political profile and perpetuate impunity for the perpetrators of the violence.

“In the 11-point recommendation submitted by the nonjudicial settlement team, there is no push to speed up accountability for law enforcement through the courts,” the YLBHI said in a statement on Thursday.

‘Too little, too late’

The President’s statement also captured international attention, with global non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch saying the perpetrators had to be held legally accountable for the sake of the victims and their families, who had been suffering for decades.

“It was a significant step forward, largely because for so many years Indonesia has been seen in complete denial,” said Elaine Pearson, director of HRW’s Asia division.

“Acknowledging past abuses was not sufficient. We need to see that there is genuine accountability taken.”

Andreas Harsono, an Indonesian researcher at HRW, said the acknowledgment was inadequate.

He also questioned why only 12 cases were recognized as gross rights violations when many other unresolved atrocities existed, including the killing of ethnic Chinese in Kalimantan from 1967 to 1969, the 1977 Wamena massacre and the killing of ethnic Madurese from 1997-2001.

“I’m not saying that the statement is wrong. I believe that this is the right step forward, but it is too little too late. Why ‘too little’? It’s because President Jokowi only mentioned 12 cases,” he said.

Implementation

The state has pledged to follow the recommendations of the nonjudicial resolution team to provide reparations in the form of social and health support, as well as human rights training for the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police.

“The government will implement the recommendations,” said Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD on Thursday.

Mahfud added that Jokowi was expected to meet with several ministers who would be assigned to carry out the recommendations and set deadlines for their completion.

The senior minister would also set up a task force under his office to serve as an oversight body for the implementation.

He also insisted that the judicial side of the resolution would run in parallel.

Speaking to a local TV station on Friday, nonjudicial settlement team chairman Makarim said a limited Cabinet meeting could be called by President Jokowi as early as Monday and that he himself was eager to work with the victims “to convince the government to implement” the recommendations.

He noted that while many of the unresolved atrocities had occurred long ago – a fact often used to dismiss the idea judicial settlement – there would always be a way to seek accountability in the future, citing the recent Dutch apology over its colonial role in slavery as an example.