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October 22, 2024 | 02:22 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Newly-inaugurated Coordinating Minister for Legal Affairs and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra clarified his previous statement regarding the 1998 tragedy that it was not a serious human rights violation. He claimed that his statement had been misunderstood and attributed it to a communication issue as he did not clearly hear the reporter's question.
“Yesterday, it was unclear what was being asked of me. If the question was related to genocide or ethnic cleansing, I can confirm that these did not occur in 1998,” Yusril said at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.
Yusril emphasized that President Prabowo Subianto's government is committed to reviewing all recommendations and findings of previous governments regarding the 1998 tragedy, including President Joko Widodo or Jokowi's acknowledgment of serious human rights violations during that period.
The former Chair of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) will coordinate with Minister of Law and Human Rights Natalius Pigai and reconsider statements from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM). Yusril, who is also the former minister of human rights, claims to have a thorough understanding of the Human Rights Court Law due to his involvement in its formulation.
“Believe that the government is committed to upholding human rights issues,” Yusril stated.
After his inauguration by Prabowo yesterday, Yusril asserted that the violence in 1998 does not qualify as a serious human rights violation. He explained that not all human rights violations can be classified as serious, even if they infringe upon human rights.
Yusril also claimed that there have been no serious human rights violations in the country in several decades. “Serious human rights violations are genocide, ethnic cleansing. They may have happened during the colonial period, at the beginning of our independence (in) the 1960s,” he said after being sworn in as a member of the Merah Putih Cabinet.
Yusril's statement has faced criticism from several civil society elements and the National Commission on Human Rights. Usman Hamid, Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, stated that Yusril's understanding of the law is inaccurate. He emphasized that a government official should not issue incorrect statements about human rights.
“It does not reflect a correct understanding of the law,” Usman said in a written response to Tempo on Monday, October 21, 2024. He referred to the definition of serious human rights violations as stated in Article 104 Paragraph (1) of the Law on Human Rights and Article 7 of the Law on Human Rights Courts.
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