With Kalla, Jokowi can seize rights momentum   Hafid Abbas  ;   The current chair of the National Commission for Human Rights and president of the Southeast Asia National Human Rights Institutions Forum (SEANF) 2014

JAKARTA POST,  07 Januari 2015

                                                                                                                       

The agenda of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla called Nawa Cita indicates their solid commitment to promoting human rights for all citizens. In particular, Kalla’s background provides a great opportunity to address human rights under this administration. As part of the promotion of economic rights, Kalla, as vice president from 2004-2009, succeeded in converting the use of kerosene and firewood into gas. Kalla was also among the prominent figures who promoted and protected our cultural and natural heritage. To preserve East Nusa Tenggara’s natural heritage in his capacity as the Komodo Island Ambassador, Kalla succeeded in getting Komodo Island named as one of the New Seven Natural Wonders in a tough global contest. As a potential second Bali among tourist destinations, the new global status of Komodo could improve the lives of the 23 percent of the population of East Nusa Tenggara who currently live below the poverty line. To restore civil and political rights, Kalla mediated between the warring parties in the communal strife in Maluku and Central Sulawesi, where sectarian conflict in Poso claimed some 960 lives and displaced 80,000 residents. Heavier losses and damage were incurred during the years of bloodshed in Maluku. Furthermore, in Aceh, in the course of some 30 years of conflict, no fewer than 50,000 were killed, including civilians, police and military personnel as well as fighters of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), equivalent to 4 to 5 deaths per day for three decades. On Dec. 26, 2004, the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Aceh left over 200,000 people dead and missing and more than 500,000 were displaced. Under such tragic conditions, Kalla with the approval of then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, initiated peace talks with GAM leaders in Sweden, which led to a peaceful agreement. The mediator Martti Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in this and other instances of conflict resolution. In the promotion and protection of civil and political rights, especially the right to life, Kalla, as chair of the Indonesian Red Cross, also attempted to reduce tensions between Hindus and Muslims in Myanmar. On Sept. 19, 2011, in Phnom Penh, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni made him an officer of the Royal Order of Sahametrei in recognition of his achievement as a peacemaker, especially in the Asia Pacific region. With such a track record, Kalla and Jokowi shoulder high expectations to resolve past human rights cases through judicial and non-judicial means, especially those that have been recommended by state bodies such as the National Commission for Human Rights following the results of government-appointed fact-finding teams. The cases that should be their first priority are those related to the 1965-1966 bloodshed, the mysterious shootings of 1982-1985, the Talangsari killings in Lampung in 1989, the forced disappearances of 1997-1998, the May 1998 riots, the shootings at Trisakti, Semanggi I and II the same year, and the Wasior and Wamena cases in 2003 in Papua. There should be no reason to preserve the dark past in its status quo, without any resolution, in our modern democracy. The President has at least started addressing minority-rights protection, a second matter of urgency, including the continued victimization of Ahmadiyah followers. A third human rights priority should address agrarian and land conflicts, including tensions among local indigenous communities with regard to their rights in forest areas. Fourth is the urgent need to reform the National Police, corporations and local governments as they are the most frequently reported actors behind human rights violations all across Indonesia. Fifth, the state should also address comprehensively all human rights cases in Papua if it wishes to prevent internationalization of this issue. A sixth item on the agenda is the improvement of the conditions of some 6 million Indonesian migrant workers around the world. Annually they contribute over US$10 billion, but some 92,000 have legal problems and 278 of them are facing death sentences, mostly in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. A seventh priority is the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights, especially the right to quality education. Our educational standards are now among the lowest in the world, equal to Syria, Palestine, Oman, Ghana and Botswana, although the funding given to education accounts for 20 percent of the total national budget. Any reluctance and delay in addressing these human rights issues will lead Jokowi’s Nawa Cita agenda to remain a pipedream, at the cost of the nation’s level of civilization. ●