TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government is seeking the right way to settle past cases of human rights violations by gathering inputs from several sources and organizations involved in the advocacy of human rights, a minister stated on Wednesday.
"It is still being processed (together with) Komnas Ham (National Commission on Human Rights), and we are also asking for views from our colleagues in Kontras (Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence). All stakeholders in the country must sit down to settle them. So, there is nothing to hide here," Yasona Laoly, the justice and human rights minister, stated at the presidential palace complex.
He noted that human rights cases to be settled would not only be the ones related to the 1965 coup attempt but also those related to the Trisakti, Semanggi, and other incidents.
"The process is ongoing. These are very big cases --- Trisakti, Semanggi, forced elimination of individuals, the 1965 incident --- all of them must be settled in the right way," he pointed out.
"We are still seeking the right way. We certainly do not want to continue carrying the burdens of the past. We wish to make peace with the past, and so, we must also make peace with ourselves. We are a great nation. We must not continue to carry the burdens of the past," stated Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan while seconding Minister Laolys views.
He affirmed that the government continued to seek the right way to settle all the cases.
"What will be the right way? We must be clear first. However, there will never be, I repeat, there will never be a term, like the one spreading outside, that the government would tender an apology to the PKI (former communist party). There will be no such thing, and we have never thought about it. I am involved in the reconciliation process. I can ensure you there is nothing like that. We are still seeking the right way, the right wording, for the settlement of eight big cases as there were victims from both sides. There cannot be victims on only one side," he added.
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