Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights said it would soon decide if human rights abuses that occurred under former president Soeharto's reign can be classified as "gross violations of human rights".
A study and research team from the commission has examined six cases that took place under Soeharto's regime believed to be gross violations of human rights.
The six cases examined killings related to the socio-political upheaval during the mid 1960s, in which an undetermined number of people, allegedly members of the Indonesian Communist Party or its sympathizers, died or disappeared.
The cases also involved the prolonged imprisonment of political detainees on Buru Island, the series of mysterious shootings of criminals known as "Petrus" in the 1980s, the armed conflicts in Aceh and Papua, the Paraku killings in East Kalimantan and the July 27, 1996 incident.
"We hope that we have completed all of the reports by the end of December so we can discuss the cases in more detail in our plenary meeting," Yoseph Adi Prasetyo, commissioner for education and public information affairs said at a press conference Friday.
Ahmad Baso, head of the study and research team for the Soeharto cases, said if the cases were determined as "gross violations" in the meeting, an ad-hoc team would be set up to further probe the violations.
The team would be made up of special investigators to follow-up the earlier examination process and to bring a formal dossier on the cases to the Attorney General's Office. "Most probably, the pro-justice investigation approach will be applied to the Soeharto cases," Baso said.
Ifdal Kasim, chairman of the human rights commission told The Jakarta Post by phone: "A Case will be said to be a gross violation case when it involves a crime against humanity or genocide as stipulated under Law No. 26/2000 on the Human Rights Court".
The human rights commission said it had received 273 reports filed by citizens during its first 100 days in operation. Yoseph said the cases involved mostly land disputes and labor cases.
Indonesia's poor human rights record has seen the United Nations require the rights commission to submit a report to the world body. Hesti Armiwulan, deputy chairman on external affairs with the commission said a five page report was required by the UN.
"The content of the report is about the existence of the human rights commission, laws which protect human rights and the implementation of the ratification of two covenants," he said.
The report would be discussed on Dec. 10, which coincides with the International Human Rights day, at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.