Broken
promises in the year of bad luck
Usman Hamid, chairman of the board for the Commission
for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), an advisor to the
International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Sumber
: JAKARTA
POST, 23
Desember 2011
The year 2011 found the predicament of human
rights in a state of decay. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s promises of
justice for victims of past violations have been subordinated to political
compromise, undermining Indonesia’s role as a member of the UN Human Rights
Council.
Indonesia is not without a human rights platform. There has been a series of five-year human rights national action plans, starting with the first RANHAM 1998-2003. Signed by former president B.J. Habibie and well applied by former president Abdurrahman Wahid, the plan led to institution building, ratification of international instruments and the application of norms.
Perpetrators of crimes against humanity were tried before civilian courts with poor results. Similar efforts were made under the second RANHAM signed by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri during 2003-2009.
This is what Indonesia presented when it underwent the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process at the fourth meeting on April 9, 2008. The council encouraged Indonesia to follow through on its intentions to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
The council also commended Indonesia for “its commitment to combat impunity”. However, Indonesia has yet to implement such recommendations.
The third RANHAM was signed late by President Yudhoyono in April 2011. Nothing was new except that some action plans, which were meant to be a resolution for past cases through the establishment of the Human Rights Court and Truth and Reconciliation Commission, were missing from the list.
Nevertheless, the resolutions of past cases were listed on the Government Work Plan 2010-2014, particularly under the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister.
Other priorities on the list were terrorism, corruption and human rights protection. The ministry targeted the resolution, through investigation and prosecution, of 10 dossiers in 2010 and five dossiers each in the next four years.
This target is reasonable since the National Commission for Human Rights submitted six dossiers in total to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).
However, the budget allocation for this five year target was limited, with Rp 540 million for investigation and Rp 790 million for prosecutions by the AGO. This was almost nothing compared to other budget allocations.
For instance, the implementation of coordination for the resolution of terrorism consisted of Rp 884.14 billion for the police, Rp 1,485,02 billion for the Indonesian Military (TNI), Rp 1,055,29 billion for the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the biggest portion was Rp3,959 billion for the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister.
This does not include deradicalization programs for terrorism, with a total budget of Rp 7,466,08 billion under the same ministry, plus the Home Ministry, the TNI and the BIN.
But cracking down on terrorism without addressing problems of judicial independence or broader demands for justice, even with such massive resources, seems to not be enough to prevent bombing and other extreme forms of religious intolerance.
In September 2011, a suicide bombing took place in Kepunton church in Surakarta, Central Java. Earlier in the year, violence resulted in the deaths of Ahmadis after a brutal attack in Cikeusik, Banten, in February 2011, which was followed some days later by attacks against a church building in Temanggung, Central Java.
Meanwhile, the fate of the GKI Yasmin community church in Bogor, West Java, remains uncertain due to government inaction to execute the Supreme Court ruling allowing a church to be built. These events triggered letters of concern from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navarethem Pillay, and representatives of the US, Canada and European Union.
Furthermore, it is essential for the international community to encourage Indonesia to undertake more security reform.
Draconian bills on national security, states of emergency, and military service may be re-introduced in 2012 after the adoption of a Law on State Intelligence, which gives excessive power to the state intelligence agency, which in turn can potentially be intrusive and undermine civil liberties.
Yudhoyono appointed his brother in law, Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, as army chief and an active military general, Marciano Norman, to lead the civilian BIN, despite a law on the TNI that bans the appointment of active military personnel to civilian posts equal to ministerial level and raised concerns over the 2004 murder of Munir, allegedly masterminded by BIN personnel with military backgrounds.
In Papua in 2011, several civilians died in patterns of violence and three TNI personnel were killed in Nafri and Abepantai. The shootings increased drastically after workers at Freeport began to strike in September 2011.
Instead of reducing personnel, which might have eased tensions, Jakarta deployed more forces to fight against alleged separatism. On Oct. 19 an attack against civilians occured after the end of Third Papuan People’s Congress in Abepura resulted in three deaths.
On the eve of Papuan independence day, Dec. 1, armed officers raided Papuan student dorms in Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta and Bandung. Not a single case of violence against civilians has been resolved, most notably torture in Tinggi Nambut, Puncak Jaya, Papua.
Perpetrators brought to two military tribunals in 2011 were tried only for administrative charges of disobeying superior order, not for torture.
President Yudhoyono has always denied that any serious crimes have occured under his administration. Even if crimes exist, Yudhoyono prefers to see them as small excesses, and then bring perpetrators to military court, despite the likelihood of a miscarriage of justice in these tribunals.
The absence of justice continues to trigger stronger demands for the self-determination of Papuans, as presented before the President by Papuan church leaders on Dec. 19, 2011.
If he is willing to have a dialogue, the President must unconditionally release 66 Papuans, plus 24 Mollucans, who have been imprisoned for their peaceful expression of pro-independence views.
Unconditional amnesty for political prisoners will improve the opportunity for success of the newly created Presidential Unit for the Acceleration of Papua and West Papua Development (UP4B), led by Bambang Dharmono and the President’s special envoy Farid Husein. It is also essential that the government implement the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy for Papua by creating a human rights court and a truth commission for Papua.
Perpetrators, whether military or civilian, are not being effectively prosecuted. Minority and vulnerable groups are not protected. All these things lead to the breakdown of trust and encourage further violence.
And finally, for a better year to come, we require a better prosecution, judiciary and other accountability mechanisms.
The way forward will never improve unless the government repairs its broken promises. President Yudhoyono must listen to the voice of students and religious leaders calling for substantive justice as a solid basis of legitimacy for law and power. ●
Indonesia is not without a human rights platform. There has been a series of five-year human rights national action plans, starting with the first RANHAM 1998-2003. Signed by former president B.J. Habibie and well applied by former president Abdurrahman Wahid, the plan led to institution building, ratification of international instruments and the application of norms.
Perpetrators of crimes against humanity were tried before civilian courts with poor results. Similar efforts were made under the second RANHAM signed by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri during 2003-2009.
This is what Indonesia presented when it underwent the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process at the fourth meeting on April 9, 2008. The council encouraged Indonesia to follow through on its intentions to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
The council also commended Indonesia for “its commitment to combat impunity”. However, Indonesia has yet to implement such recommendations.
The third RANHAM was signed late by President Yudhoyono in April 2011. Nothing was new except that some action plans, which were meant to be a resolution for past cases through the establishment of the Human Rights Court and Truth and Reconciliation Commission, were missing from the list.
Nevertheless, the resolutions of past cases were listed on the Government Work Plan 2010-2014, particularly under the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister.
Other priorities on the list were terrorism, corruption and human rights protection. The ministry targeted the resolution, through investigation and prosecution, of 10 dossiers in 2010 and five dossiers each in the next four years.
This target is reasonable since the National Commission for Human Rights submitted six dossiers in total to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).
However, the budget allocation for this five year target was limited, with Rp 540 million for investigation and Rp 790 million for prosecutions by the AGO. This was almost nothing compared to other budget allocations.
For instance, the implementation of coordination for the resolution of terrorism consisted of Rp 884.14 billion for the police, Rp 1,485,02 billion for the Indonesian Military (TNI), Rp 1,055,29 billion for the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the biggest portion was Rp3,959 billion for the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister.
This does not include deradicalization programs for terrorism, with a total budget of Rp 7,466,08 billion under the same ministry, plus the Home Ministry, the TNI and the BIN.
But cracking down on terrorism without addressing problems of judicial independence or broader demands for justice, even with such massive resources, seems to not be enough to prevent bombing and other extreme forms of religious intolerance.
In September 2011, a suicide bombing took place in Kepunton church in Surakarta, Central Java. Earlier in the year, violence resulted in the deaths of Ahmadis after a brutal attack in Cikeusik, Banten, in February 2011, which was followed some days later by attacks against a church building in Temanggung, Central Java.
Meanwhile, the fate of the GKI Yasmin community church in Bogor, West Java, remains uncertain due to government inaction to execute the Supreme Court ruling allowing a church to be built. These events triggered letters of concern from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navarethem Pillay, and representatives of the US, Canada and European Union.
Furthermore, it is essential for the international community to encourage Indonesia to undertake more security reform.
Draconian bills on national security, states of emergency, and military service may be re-introduced in 2012 after the adoption of a Law on State Intelligence, which gives excessive power to the state intelligence agency, which in turn can potentially be intrusive and undermine civil liberties.
Yudhoyono appointed his brother in law, Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, as army chief and an active military general, Marciano Norman, to lead the civilian BIN, despite a law on the TNI that bans the appointment of active military personnel to civilian posts equal to ministerial level and raised concerns over the 2004 murder of Munir, allegedly masterminded by BIN personnel with military backgrounds.
In Papua in 2011, several civilians died in patterns of violence and three TNI personnel were killed in Nafri and Abepantai. The shootings increased drastically after workers at Freeport began to strike in September 2011.
Instead of reducing personnel, which might have eased tensions, Jakarta deployed more forces to fight against alleged separatism. On Oct. 19 an attack against civilians occured after the end of Third Papuan People’s Congress in Abepura resulted in three deaths.
On the eve of Papuan independence day, Dec. 1, armed officers raided Papuan student dorms in Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta and Bandung. Not a single case of violence against civilians has been resolved, most notably torture in Tinggi Nambut, Puncak Jaya, Papua.
Perpetrators brought to two military tribunals in 2011 were tried only for administrative charges of disobeying superior order, not for torture.
President Yudhoyono has always denied that any serious crimes have occured under his administration. Even if crimes exist, Yudhoyono prefers to see them as small excesses, and then bring perpetrators to military court, despite the likelihood of a miscarriage of justice in these tribunals.
The absence of justice continues to trigger stronger demands for the self-determination of Papuans, as presented before the President by Papuan church leaders on Dec. 19, 2011.
If he is willing to have a dialogue, the President must unconditionally release 66 Papuans, plus 24 Mollucans, who have been imprisoned for their peaceful expression of pro-independence views.
Unconditional amnesty for political prisoners will improve the opportunity for success of the newly created Presidential Unit for the Acceleration of Papua and West Papua Development (UP4B), led by Bambang Dharmono and the President’s special envoy Farid Husein. It is also essential that the government implement the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy for Papua by creating a human rights court and a truth commission for Papua.
Perpetrators, whether military or civilian, are not being effectively prosecuted. Minority and vulnerable groups are not protected. All these things lead to the breakdown of trust and encourage further violence.
And finally, for a better year to come, we require a better prosecution, judiciary and other accountability mechanisms.
The way forward will never improve unless the government repairs its broken promises. President Yudhoyono must listen to the voice of students and religious leaders calling for substantive justice as a solid basis of legitimacy for law and power. ●
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar