TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government’s initiative to set up a reconciliation commission for human right violations cases in the past must be appreciated.

This commission will be under the command of the President and it shows government’s political will to protect human rights.

Various elements will join the commission, among others the Attorney General Office, the Indonesian National Police, the Indonesian National Military, and the National Commission for Human Rights.

The victims’ family and witnesses will also be involved.

The idea to set up such a commission is not a novel thing. In 2004, Law number 27 on Truth Commission and Reconciliation was issued. Unfortunately, by the end of 2006, the Constitutional Court annulled this law because it was deemed not to be in line with other regulations.

Now, Joko Widodo, who is relatively without the burden of human right violations in the past, is expected to revive the important agenda that has been delayed.

Reconciliation is no easy task, indeed.

There are five requirements that have to be met.

First, there must be rectifying facts and data of violations. The location of kidnapping victims, whether dead or alive, must be revealed.

Second, the government must admit the existence of those human right violation victims.

Third, the government, represented by the President, must convey an official apology to the victims.

Fourth, the government must pledge not to repeat human rights violation.

Fifth, the government must restore the good name of the victims and their family.

However, so far, the idea to establish the commission is not without debates.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), for example, rejected resolving human rights cases through reconciliation or non-judicial ways. According to Kontras, reconciliation mast not eliminated judicial ways.

The Reconciliation Commission must also be equipped with an ad hoc court that especially addresses human rights violation cases.

Resolving the cases through the courts is also not a simple thing as well.

Bringing to justice those involved in the 30 September 1965 movement for example, is very difficult.

Most of the perpetrators and the victims are dead. Efforts to trace documents are also difficult, especially because all those incidents are not separated from the context of political disputes in the past.

This country needs reconciliation. There are quite a few human right violations that have as if put barriers to this country’s moves.

The bloody G30S incident, mysterious murder cases in 1908s, Talangasri case, the special military operation area in Aceh, and the riot in May 1998 case that remains unresolved as of now.

As a result, memory about the country that is absent to protect its citizens continues to accumulate. This is not healthy.

A nation can move forward freely after the burden of violence in the past is resolved.

Germany brought to justice Nazi generals. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was imprisoned because of human rights violation in 1960s. Nelson Mandela set up a reconciliation commission, which met the victims and the perpetrators of violence cases during the Apartheid era.

Therefore, we have to give our supports to the establishment of the Reconciliation Commission. The method must prioritize judicial ways.

It is the court that determined whether proof of violence is considered sufficient or not.

If the data and evidence are sufficient, the perpetrators must be tried and brought to justice. If the court says that the evidence is not enough, non-judicial ways are considered.

(*)