Days ahead of his inauguration as the country’s eighth president, President-elect Prabowo Subianto is facing an arduous task of ensuring the protection of human rights in Indonesia, in particular resolving past cases of rights violation.
Former Commissioner at the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Beka Ulung Hapsara, said Prabowo Subianto must work harder to prove to the public that as president he is highly committed and willing to uphold the basic human rights principles, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press and other fundamental rights.
“Such a commitment is needed because global human right situation is not so good, either,” Beka spoke to Indonesia Business Post on Friday, September 27, 2024.
He said further that Prabowo needed to resolve past cases of human rights violation within his five-year term so that they will not become the burden of history.
“Prabowo must fulfill his promise as stipulated in the mission statement of Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka election pair, where human rights is described as the number one concern,” he cited.
A researcher at the Human Rights Watch (HRW), Andreas Harsono, said Prabowo Subianto as an elected president should set a good example in upholding human rights, such as allowing law enforcement officer to summon and question him in personal capacity for a number of past human rights cases.
He said there is no precedence in the Indonesian law history that an elected president faces two unresolved cases of human rights violation.
The first case is the alleged massacre in Krakas village, Timor Leste in, 1983 when Prabowo was a commander of an Army battalion. Based on the indictment filed by the UN Special Prosecution Unit, there were 150 people dead in the incident. However, Prabowo has denied his presence at the scene of incident.
The second case was in regards with the finding by Military Honorary Council in 1997. The fact finding team said in its report of Prabowo’s alleged involvement in the abduction of activists. At the time, he was recommended to be fired from active duties of the Indonesian military.
“Prabowo will have the burden to serve his position as president because people in Indonesia and abroad will question the allegations against him,” Andreas said.
Executive Secretary of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Markus Haluk, said they expected that there would be no differences in human rights protection under Prabowo leadership.
“It has been happening for 61 years since Papua inegration with Indonesia. So I call on the Papuan people to prepare themselves for the worst case scenarios that might happen under the administration of Prabowo,” Markus said.
In the memory of the Papuan people, he said, Prabowo is human right abuser. He cited the release of hostages in 1996 that led to deep “memoria passionis” among elders of the Nduga, Amungme, Dani and Lani tribes.
He also cited the abduction of student activists in 1996 before reformasi (political reforms) that allegedly involved Prabowo and led to his removal from his post as the special forces chief.
“So the experience, the suffering and the alleged human rights violation by Prabowo are still alive in the hearts and memories of the Papuan people,” Markus said.
