TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Deputy Coordinator I, Feri Kusuma, opined the handling and enforcement of human rights in the era of President Joko Widodo or Jokowi has already been dreadful.

“If we reflect on Pak Jokowi's administration, I have come to one conclusion that we have no hope of talking about human rights in this governance,” said Feri in a public discussion on democracy and human rights on Tuesday, October 27, 2020.

Feri argued that the government failed to enforce several instruments of human rights, including the handling of past human rights violation cases. Referring to his Nawacita program proposed during the election campaign, Jokowi explicitly vowed to provide solutions on the matter.

However, after the first term of governance and being chosen again for the second term, he did not make developments in the case. This was worsened by his decision on cabinet ministers that was deemed to extend the chain of impunity for alleged suspects of past human rights violations.

"Actors who were anti-criticisms, very authoritarian during the New Order era, get strategic places under President Jokowi’s power," Feri added.

The poor handling of human rights in the Jokowi era was also exacerbated by the repressive approach taken by the government against the freedom of opinion in demonstrations, he said.

According to Feri, criminalization acts continued to occur in the community, which was most visible during last year’s rally on corrupted reformation and the recent mass protest against the Job Creation Law.

Read: Jokowi's First Year in Office; KontraS Highlights Human Rights Violations

EGI ADYATAMA