September is almost over, but
the pain it has caused to the families of victims of human rights abuses
does not end. It has been worsened by the fact that those responsible
for the deaths of their loved ones still enjoy impunity.
"Today,
13 years ago, my husband was cruelly poisoned to death with arsenic.
Hopefully, the president remembers it, because the murderers are still
free," said Suciwati, the widow of rights activist Munir Said Thalib, who
was murdered on Sept. 7, 2004.
Wanmayetti
has been waiting even longer than Suciwati, as Sept. 12 marked 33 years of
her seeking justice over the disappearance of her father, Bachtiar Johan.
Along with 22 other people, Johan disappeared during a mass protest in Tanjung
Priok, North Jakarta, in 1984, in which 24 were killed.
In 2006, 12
convicts in the Tanjung Priok case were freed by the Supreme Court.
"Jokowi
[President Joko Widodo] has never said whether the Tanjung Priok case was
over or not. The only thing that we need is the truth and justice from the
state about the rights abuses," Wanmayetti said.
The case of
Munir and the Tanjung Priok tragedy are only two of many grave human
rights violations that took place in Septembers.
The pilot
who poisoned my human rights mentor Munir was sent to jail. But a National
Intelligence Agency (BIN) official accused of being the mastermind of the
killing was acquitted in 2008.
Other
September abuses include the shootings in Jakarta's Semanggi, in which 12
were killed, after a student protest on Sept. 24, 1999, and the
state-sponsored anticommunist purge that started on on Sept. 30, 1965, in which
1 million people perished and hundreds of thousands were arbitrarily
detained for decades.
The violent
mob attack on the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) office in
Jakarta on Sept. 17, has brought further misery to the families of the
victims of the 1965-66 massacres, who were trying to host a seminar on
those events.
What Does It Mean?
It means
that the more the government with its blatant inaction delays justice
to victims of human rights violations, the more vigilante groups feel
emboldened to participate in blocking all attempts to reveal the truth
about killings and abuses that mar our past. Sadly, while impunity
persists, the right to gather peacefully to express opinion and share
knowledge about the past is now also under serious threat.
The
survivors of the 1965-66 massacres fear to talk about those events. None
of those responsible for the killings has been brought to justice.
September
has become "Dark September," which the victims of rights
abuses observe every year as the month of human rights violations.
Mr.
President, under both national and international laws, the Indonesian
government is obliged to ensure that human rights violations are
investigated thoroughly and independently, that perpetrators are brought
to justice, and their victims are compensated.
Unfortunately,
your vows and political commitment to resolve the cases of rights violations
have so far seen no real action. In the past three years of your presidency,
the human rights agenda from your electoral promises has not been a priority.
Many of us believed it was one of your key policies. Soon you might join
your predecessors in failing to fulfill the commitment to human
rights.
While
perpetrators enjoy impunity, thanks to their close ties with those
in power and in the army, human rights violations become something
people are no longer surprised of. Present and future perpetrators will not
hesitate to commit abuses. This is what the term "cycle of impunity"
means.
Inaction to
end it may have contributed to the recent attacks on anticorruption
activists across the country and persecution of indigenous communities
that defend their traditional lands — 100 cases have been recorded
lately by the Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN).
Farmers in
Kendeng, Central Java or in Banyuwangi, East Java, have been criminalized
and intimidated for trying to prevent their lands from being
used by industries that harm the environment.
As of now,
the police have failed to investigate the attacks
against anticorruption activists, farmers and indigenous people.
It's been
five months that the police are trying to solve the acid attack on senior
antigraft investigator Novel Baswedan. Instead of stepping up their
investigation, they are processing five reports that can see Novel himself
being prosecuted.
One of the
reports, charging Novel with defamation, was filed by Corruption
Eradication Commission (KPK) investigations director Brig. Gen. Aris Budiman,
after Novel told Time magazine that "a police general" was
involved in the acid attack against him.
The police
said Novel was "not cooperative" in helping them
identify the assailants, apparently to justify the failure in finding
them.
What bigger
conclusion can we make from all these? The government's attempts to
reform the police and the military, the two bodies that are frequently linked
to human rights violations, have been unsuccessful.
It's been
three years since you took office. And yet human rights violators are still
untouchable under your administration. The cycle of impunity prevails.
You have
less than two years to break this cycle, fulfill your human rights promises and
deliver justice to Suciwati, Wanmayetti and thousands of others. It's high
time to reprioritize your human rights agenda.
You have the
will, the power and the resources. You must act now Mr. President, before
September becomes forever Dark September. Please, don't delay justice any
longer.
Usman Hamid
is the director of Amnesty International Indonesia
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