SBY to apologize for rights abuses

JAKARTA. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is expected to make an apology to families and victims of past human rights abuses, including those who perished in the purge of members of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1965.

A member of the Presidential Advisory Council on legal issues, Albert Hasibuan, confirmed on Wednesday that Yudhoyono intended to deliver an apology, adding that the council was preparing a draft speech for him to approve.

“It all started with the President's willingness [to make an apology] that could serve as a starting point to resolve the country's past human rights violations,” Albert said after a meeting with the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) on Wednesday.

Albert said that with the apology, the country could look to the future without being burdened by the past.

Albert later told The Jakarta Post that the Presidential Advisory Council, besides preparing the draft of the speech, was also devising a mechanism to compensate victims.

“It would include a mechanism by which the government would fulfil the victims’ rights, which includes access to compensation and retribution,” he said.

Albert said that the idea to apologize for past rights abuses first occurred to Yudhoyono in January.

“We should applaud his decision and follow through with the President’s intention because no president in the past ever made the gesture,” he said.

Albert said that Yudhoyono would deliver the apology to families and victims of those who perished in the purge of PKI members in 1965, the Tanjung Priok massacre in 1984 as well as the May 1998 riots.

He also said that Yudhoyono would make the apology before his term ended in 2014 because he wanted the gesture to be his legacy.

Throughout modern history, Indonesia has seen numerous cases of gross violations of human rights, the most grim being the prosecution without trial of thousands of alleged members of the now-defunct PKI, which happened soon after an aborted coup blamed on the Communist Party.

Yudhoyono's father in-law, Sarwo Edhi Wibowo, was one of former president Soeharto's field commanders when thousands of suspected PKI members were massacred in Java.

Human rights activists and families of victims have been relentlessly struggling for justice in many ways, including by gathering in front of the Presidential Palace each Thursday afternoon from 2007 up until now.

The activists have renewed their calls to the government not to make them victims of political amnesia.

Contacted separately, National Commission on Human Rights chairman Ifdhal Kasim said that the apology could be the most practical way to settle past human rights abuses.

He said that settling past human rights violations through conventional legal means would drag on with only a slight hope of resolution.

“So we need an alternative way to tackle the problem, and in this case the President should come forward on behalf of the state to apologize to the victims and make a policy on compensating victims,” he said.

Ifdhal said that by apologizing for past rights abuses, Yudhoyono would address grievances among victims and that could serve as a first concrete step toward rehabilitation and reconciliation.

He said that Yudhoyono could issue either a presidential decree or a presidential instruction as a legal basis to initiate the rehabilitation and reconciliation efforts.

“It is more practical instead of the President proposing a law to the House of Representatives, which would take a very long time,” he said.

Ifdhal said Yudhoyono should make the apology sooner rather than later. “We should prevent the issue of past human rights violations from being used as a political commodity to attack political rivals or raise their popularity,” he said.

Kontras executive coordinator Haris Azhar applauded the plan but said it would not mean much. “There has to be disclosure to the public about what really happened in the past.” (fzm)

Human rights abuses

Mass killings in 1965-1970
Victims: 1.5 million
Description: Victims mostly Indonesian Communist Party members.
Settlement: No solution.

Aceh in Military Operation Zone (DOM) in 1976-1989
Description: Aceh was declared a Military Operation Zone with a high level of violence with many victims.
Settlement: A peace settlement in 2005.

Tanjung Priok in 1984
Victims: 74 people
Description: Military opened fire on demonstrators.
Settlement: An ad hoc Human Rights Court passes light sentences. Inadequate reparation for victims.

Papua in 1966-until now
Victims: Thousands
Description: Intensive military operations carried out by the military to deal with the Free Papua Organization (OPM).
Settlement: No solution.

PDI office raid, July 27, 1996
Victims: 1,317 people affected
Description: State stormed the
Indonesian Democratic Party office.
Settlement: Civilians sentenced by court. No military officials punished. No reparations for victims.

Talangsari Lampung in 1989
Victims: 803 people
Description: The repression of Muslim communities in Central Lampung accused of being extreme rightists.

(Rabby Pramudatama/The Jakarta Post)