Jakarta – The recently signed Presidential Decree on the Establishment of the Team of Non-judicial Settlements of Past Gross Human Rights Violations is the government’s promise and commitment towards the settlement of past gross human rights violations. Further, the government is paying serious attention towards the rights of survivors and victims’ families.
Deputy Chief of Staff for Politics, Law, Defense, Security and Human Rights, Jaleswari Pramodhawardani, added that the team formation was based on thorough consideration, involving all relevant stakeholders, including survivors and the victims’ families.
“The members of this non-judicial settlement team are people full of integrity, competence and an adequate understanding of human rights. They represent groups who will carry the objectives stipulated in the Presidential Decree,” Jaleswari said.
They will, too, assist the whole settlement process, including but not limited to the victims’ reparations, as mandated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
While the judicial mechanism is oriented towards retributive justice, the non-judicial mechanism centers its attention to the victim recovery, Jaleswari went on to say.
In addition, the judicial and non-judicial settlement paths are regarded complementary, not a subtitutive to each other.
Refuting the Presidential Decree’s unclear legal basis, Jaleswari defended the law as an executive measure to fill the urgency to immediately settle the long overdue injustice against the survivor and the victims’ families.
Various studies also explain that several Truth and Reconciliation Commissions anywhere in the world were formed through Executive Measures.
It should be noted that to date, there have been 13 incidents of gross human rights violations that are yet to be resolved, with 9 of them being past gross human rights violations that occurred before the enactment of Law No. 26/2000 on the Human Rights Court.
“Past gross human rights violations have a wide span of time and place, with various typologies and different elements to it. Thus, it is unlikely for them to be with just one approach. Non-judicial mechanisms provide a great opportunity for victims to be heard, empowered, honored and have their dignity restored,” concluded Jaleswari.
