Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – In what many see as a pinnacle of infighting within the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), nine commissioners of the rights body voted to oust incumbent chairman Otto Nur Abdullah on Wednesday.
The nine commissioners, who earlier changed an internal regulation to allow annual turnover of the commission's leadership, voted in the absence of Otto, outgoing deputy chairpersons Sandrayati Moniaga and Muhamad Nurkhoiron and commissioners Roihatul Haswidah.
The four commissioners walked out of the plenary room in protest of the vote. "We have stated our position. We don't want a vote. This is the logical next step from our stance in going against the decision to change our internal regulations," Otto told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Otto was chosen as Komnas HAM chairman in November last year.
In the Wednesday vote, the nine commissioners elected Siti Nur Laila as the new chair of Komnas HAM. Serving as her deputies are Imdadun Rahmat and Dianto Bachriadi.
Many suspect that the infighting has been orchestrated by politicians who want to interfere with the internal process of the commission ahead of the 2014 elections.
Some activists go so far as to suggest that many commissioners themselves are mere stuffed shirts: appendages of political parties, if not actual government agencies, including the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).
Various groups with considerable vested interests in emasculating Komnas HAM have coalesced to form a movement with the objective of impeaching Otto, well known for his uncompromising struggle to uncover past human rights abuses.
Otto has said that he would press ahead with investigations to uncover past human rights abuses, some of which had been conducted under the leadership of his predecessor Ifdhal Kasim.
Under Ifdhal's leadership, Komnas HAM declared that the anti-communist purge in 1965, the 1998 riots and the mysterious shootings in the early 1980s are gross violations of human rights.
Komnas HAM also declared that the Lapindo mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, was a human rights violation and that the oil and gas company PT Lapindo Brantas was responsible for the man-made disaster. Soon after being elected Komnas HAM chairman Otto said that he would focus on the anti-communist purge and the Lapindo mudflow disaster.
Rights activists have grown concerned that under Siti's leadership, Komnas HAM will stop efforts to uncover past human rights abuse.
Activist Chairul Anam of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) said that the ouster of Otto was politically-motivated. "The turmoil within Komnas HAM, we call it a coup d'etat, is a strong indication that political interests has made an inroads to the rights body," Chairul said.
He said that the proposal for an annual turnover was not based on a careful consideration and would only compromise the work of Komnas HAM. "Based on past experiences, the annual turnover will only prevent commissioners from effectively handling cases," Chairul said.
The Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI), a human rights network of 28 rights watchdogs from 17 countries in Asia, have also said that it would be unlikely for Komnas HAM to realize its goal with the shortened term for its leadership.