JakartaPost-July 4
The program launched by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to settle past cases of gross human rights violations is missing the point over its failure to address the crucial issue of rewriting the official version of Indonesia’s history, say critics and victims’ families. Rewriting the country’s history by including past human rights abuses was among the 11 recommendations issued in December by the government-sanctioned nonjudicial settlement team, led by veteran diplomat and human rights activist Makarim Wibisono. The team was formed in August 2022 after Jokowi announced a plan to resolve gross human rights violations through nonjudicial means. The team’s first recommendation was for the government to acknowledge that the state was culpable for past human rights abuses and to express regret over 12 incidents, including the 1965 massacre, torturing civilians in Aceh during its military operation against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the 1998 riots in Jakarta. President Jokowi quickly followed up in January by expressing regret over the government’s responsibility in the 12 incidents. The team’s second recommendation was for the government to reformulate the narrative on past atrocities by including the victims’ side of the story. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD said last week that he had tasked another ministry with researching the past cases of gross human rights violations. However, he emphasized that the study, to be led by the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry, would not affect the government’s policies. “We welcome anyone who wants to write the history [of past atrocities],” Mahfud said on Friday. “But it is only an academic study. The results will not be [used as] references to issue policies because we will never find common ground, as history is ‘wild’.” Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2023/07/04/victims-families-urge-jokowi-to-rewrite-history-on-rights-abuse.html.
