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House urged to include ad hoc tribunals in KKR bill

Jakarta Post - April 6, 2015

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Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Rights activists have called on the government and the House of Representatives to drop contentious articles in a draft bill on the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR), emphasizing the need for comprehensive solutions to resolve past human rights abuse cases.

As with the 2004 law on the KKR, which was annulled, the bill does not allow for the establishment of ad hoc tribunals to hear cases of past human rights violations.

Article 28 of the current draft bill mirrors Article 44 of the 2004 law, which awarded full authority to the KKR to hear historic cases of human rights abuses.

"Cases of gross rights abuses that are uncovered and resolved by the KKR must no longer be brought to ad hoc tribunals, including aid, rehabilitation and compensation given to victims," says the article.

Article 11 of the existing bill, which has been submitted to the House, reflects the same message, emphasizing that any decision made by the KKR is legally binding and not subject to court verdicts.

"The [current] draft is as controversial as the old law because it has the same purpose," Poengky Indarti of human rights watchdog Imparsial said on Sunday.

The scrapping of stipulations allowing amnesty for perpetrators by the consent of victims did not change the nature of the bill, which rejected judicial mechanisms, she added.

The differences between the draft bill and the annulled 2004 law are minor. The bill grants the president the prerogative to appoint nine people to sit on the commission, whereas the scrapped law mandated the House to propose names of candidates.

Prior to a formal deliberation planned by the House and the government for later this year, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has proposed inclusive public hearings to avoid a top-down decision-making process.

Komnas HAM deputy chairwoman Roichatul Aswidah stressed the importance of state recognition of past incidents declared to be gross human rights violations by Komnas HAM.

They include the 1989 Talangsari massacre, the disappearances of prodemocracy activists in 1997 and 1998, the Trisakti University shootings, the Semanggi student shootings in 1998 and 1999, the mysterious killings of alleged criminals in the 1980s, the anticommunist massacres of 1965 and various abuses that took place in Wasior and Wamena in Papua in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

"The state's recognition is vital, otherwise all efforts will be in vain. We hope the state will admit that such dark stories are part of the history of our nation. Through this, we hope to help prevent similar painful incidents in the future," she said.

The KKR bill is one of 37 priority bills targeted to be endorsed by the end of this year.

If approved, the KKR would comprise of nine individuals who would be given four years to investigate the cases that Komnas HAM declared gross human rights violations, to find the most appropriate way of restoring the rights of the victims as well as achieving reconciliation.

The draft bill also mandates the establishment of KKR branches in Aceh and Papua due to the special needs of both of those regions, with the consent of the local authorities.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/04/06/house-urged-include-ad-hoc-tribunals-kkr-bill.html.