You are in an old house. It is raining very heavily
outside. You just realized that the roof is leaking. And it is growing
slowly but surely. You do your best to prevent this leaking from getting
stronger. You even try to stop it by moving small pieces of wood and the
tiles that you can reach. Ouf, you finally managed. It is not leaking
anymore at this point. But a bit further, another leak has appeared and is
growing also. You do the same, with the same patience...and again, you
manage.
But what do you see? The previous spot is growing again!
You go back to that point, and again succeed in stopping the leak...but
for how long?
You know perfectly that it is the structure of the roof
that you should try to change, but it is not easy because this old wood
has all its own support, its own role in maintaining the structure.
In Indonesia, a country which is now faced with numerous
issues and difficulties, priority is not given to address the past,
although it is well known that the way Indonesia is addressing its past
human rights violations will determine its future record on human rights.
In the country today, human rights work requires the same degree of
patience that is needed in the art of addressing bocor: to prevent
the worse, to come back to the same point and further work for better
results, even if you know that the whole structure has to be improved and
fully overhauled.
Small steps forward against big steps backward
On August 3, 2001, newly appointed President Megawati
Sukanoputri signed a decree establishing an ad hoc tribunal to try
suspects involved in gross human rights abuses during the 1984 Tanjung
Priok affair and the East Timor massacres in 1999. The said presidential
decree repealed a previous decree signed by then President Abdurrahman
Wahid in April 2001. Concerned primarily with East Timor, the April decree
only gave the tribunals authority to hand down verdicts on human rights
violations that took place in East Timor after the self-determination
plebiscite on August 30, 1999. The new decree, however, clearly specifies
that crime against humanity particularly the Tanjung Priok shooting in
September 1984 and in East Timor in April and September 1999 should be
brought to the Court. The decree further allows the investigation of human
rights violation thatv were committed in April 1999 - a move that widened
the scope of investigation to include the previous month.
It is, however, not much compared to the years where
impunity was common in East Timor and in other parts of Indonesia. But it
is this little difference which makes possible the investigation of other
cases, such as the massacre of refugees at a Church in Liquica, for
example. And this little opening was also made possible by the
perseverance of human rights NGOs in the country.
This is what Indonesia is now experiencing - the
steadfastness to carry these small forward steps. One month vis-a-vis
thirty years of human rights violations is still a step forward. But these
small forward steps are shaky and vulnerable. There is still the
possibility of stepping backward. While struggling that another month be
included in the investigations, violence accompanied by human rights
violations occurs in several places, especially in Aceh and Papua - two
regions where independence movements have grown after 1999. In Aceh, the
Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka/GAM) has been fighting for
independence since the 1970s. In Papua, the Free Papua Organization (Organisasi
Papua Merdeka/OPM) was also created in the same decade.
Increasing Human Rights Violations in Aceh
It is already almost three years since Indonesia started
building a democratic system, but human rights violations are still
perpetrated and are not fully addressed. From June 2000 until June 2001,
there have been 18 victims of involuntary disappearance all over Indonesia
according to KontraS (Commission Against Involuntary Disappearance and
Victims of Violence). Among this said number, 13 were victims of
involuntary disappearance in the Province of Aceh. During the same period,
110 persons were victims of extra-judicial killings, including the 53
victims in Aceh. Torture is still widely used: from June 2000 until June
2001, 315 people have been tortured by members of the police and the
military. In Papua, three documented cases of torture were reported
yielding 104 victims. In Aceh, there were 26 reported cases of torture
with 100 victims. The recent intensification of attacks in the region of
Aceh has not helped in reversing this trend.
A peace dialogue between the Indonesian Government and GAM
has resulted in a series of agreements since June 2000 aiming at
suspending military operations on both sides. But the agreements failed
and the parties have since continued committing grave human rights abuses.
A new military operation began in May 2001 and has
resulted in the intensification of the conflict. Human rights activists
have been specifically targeted and have been subjected to arbitrary
arrests, torture and extra-judicial killings. An increasing number
of activists have been forced to leave Aceh for their own security. On
July 15, 2001, human rights activists from LBH, Legal Aid Foundation, and
KontraS were arrested and interrogated following a peaceful conference on
anti-militarism. Two other human rights activists were also arrested and
tortured after being stopped at a military checkpoint. They were carrying
documentation which showed military involvement in the killings of
civilians in Aceh and in the establishment of militia groups in the
region. They were released after several hours without charges. Members of
the GAM negotiating team have also been arrested. They had participated in
the talks with the Indonesian government through the mediation of Henri
Dunant Center earlier this year. It is a very clear and not-so-encouraging
message from the Indonesian authorities that they are not committed to
pursuing a peaceful solution to the problem in Aceh. Preventing human
rights activists in carrying out their work and preventing them to speak
and share their ideas will not help solve the crisis in the area; it is
even having a contrary effect. This is a lesson the authorities should
have learned form the past. Unfortunately, it is very doubtful that
President Megawati will consider this to solve the crisis in Aceh and in
the other provinces. The strong support that she received from the
military to attain power and her priority to maintain national integrity
are not the best combination in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.
To improve the human rights situation in the country, the
new administration will have to demonstrate a strong commitment to improve
the sense of professionalism in certain institutions, such as the police
and the Justice Ministry. Even if "the issuance of the new decree (on the
ad hoc human rights tribunals) shows a good sign of the new
administration on human rights' said Asmara Nababan, the Secretary General
of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas-HAM), this small srteps
is unfortunately only one among the many others that keenly awaited. But
as stated by the Secretary General, along with the victims and other human
rights activists, this small victory, he himself is witnessing
contradictory winds in his institution.
Following a law passed in 1999, the Secretary General of
Komnas-HAM must be a civil servant who is not a member of the Commission.
there were recently two people prposed for the post, one of whom was a
retired general. What an irony of for a human rights body in a country
where the Army is well-known for having been involved in human rights
violations! Asmara Nababan has stated that an amendment to this law has
been proposed. Hopefully, the idea to have a retired general as Secretary
General of an institution which investigates crimes committed by Army
members - an idea worthy of the best farce - will not progress.
With such skewed sense of governance on the part of
Indonesia's leaders, it is no wonder that the country now looks like a
house with a dilapidated roof. With leaks sprouting at every second and at
every corner, Indonesians may soon find themselves in neck-high water. But
as in the art of fighting against leaking, human rights work in Indonesia
today requires good reflexes an an attentive eye on everything.
