Indonesia: Provide Reparations to Victims of Gross Human Rights Violations, ICTJ Report

12/12/2011

A report released today by ICTJ, together with the Indonesian Association for Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI) and the Coalition for Justice and Truth (KKPK), calls on the government to fulfill its obligations to provide reparations to thousands of victims of gross human rights violations.

Thirteen years after the fall of Soeharto, victims in Indonesia continue to suffer the negative effects of gross human rights violations and ongoing discrimination. Although efforts by the president and the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) to create a reparations policy have lost momentum, victims' demands have not diminished.

Titled “Indonesia’s Obligations to Provide Reparations for Victims of Gross Human Rights Violations,” this report outlines the needs and demands of victims, based on focus group discussions with victims and civil society actors held in seven cities throughout Indonesia. Those affected by human rights violations in both past and ongoing conflicts continue to experience discrimination, intimidation when calling for justice, and obstacles to activities such as selling or inheriting property or pursuing public employment.

The report establishes both the existing legal and policy framework in Indonesia to provide for reparations and the limitations of measures to date. The report shows that court-ordered reparations have not been effective to date and calls for transparent and adequately supported measures distinct from broader social assistance programs.

Based on its findings, the report makes recommendations to the government to execute both short and longer-term actions to meet its obligation to provide reparations to victims of gross human rights violations. Measures should begin with an official acknowledgement and apology to the victims, the provision of official documentation to families of the disappeared, and the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Longer-term recommendations call on the government to create a comprehensive reparations program that: officially acknowledges violations, is complementarity to—and does not replace—efforts to seek justice, contributes to a historical account of violations, works in partnership with civil society and victims’ groups, and is distinct from broader development programs. The paper makes specific suggestions on the proposed mechanism’s mandate, registration structure, financing, types of reparations emphasized, and its relationship to measures pursuing truth-seeking, justice, and legal reform.

The paper was presented during Indonesia’s first human rights hearing December 12, organized by the National Human Rights Commission and the Women’s and Children’s Commissions.

Download the full report.

Read the press release.

Photo: As part the Indonesia Victims' Congress held by ICTJ, Komnas, and IKOHI in 2009, a victim stands in front of protest art that demands the full investigation of a 1984 massacre of demonstrators in Tanjung Priok.