Fabian Januarius Kuwado, Jakarta – The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Person and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Yati Andriani, hopes that panelists will ask hard questions about human rights (HAM) during the first presidential debate which will be held on January 17.
In the case of presidential candidate number 01 incumbent President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, an example would be a question challenging him to instruct the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to question figures who are alleged to be linked with past gross human rights violations.
"For example are you prepared to instruct the AGO to question a number of names who are strongly suspected of being involved in past gross human rights violations?", Andriani said to Kompas.com on Friday January 4.
In the case of presidential candidate number 02 Prabowo Subianto, an example of a hard question would be can you guarantee that you will not carry out any abductions if you win the 2019 presidential election.
"Can you guarantee that you will not abduct or forcibly disappear people again? Are you prepared to reveal the truth about the people who you abducted and the whereabouts of those who are still missing?", continued Andriani.
In addition to this, it is hoped that the panelists will dig into the candidate's programs in terms of upholding human rights.
"Because no matter how good the questions are if the political policies which are put forward are not pursued, then none of the positive legal mechanisms or policy implementation will take place. So normative questions will not be enough, but they must detail what their policies are on HAM issues", she said.
According to Andriani it is appropriate to ask these hard questions because normative questions will not be enough to reveal how serious the two presidential and vice presidential candidates are in resolving cases of past gross human rights violations.
Five presidential debates will be held. The first debate will be broadcast by four television stations: RRI, Kompas TV and RTV. The second debate will be held on February 17, the third on March 17 and the fourth on March 30, 2019.
The date for the fifth and last debate meanwhile not yet been finalised because the General Election Commission (KPU) and the candidate's election campaign teams are still checking their respective schedules.
Notes
During his 2004 election campaign Widodo pledged to solve eight past human rights cases which he referred to as a historical burden. These included violations which took place in 1998, during the Suharto dictatorship and the 1965 anti-communist purge. Although the National Human Rights Commission has submitted investigation dossiers these to the AGO – which has the authority to prosecute cases – all have been rejected on the grounds that they are "incomplete". Rights activists say Widodo's failure to pursue these cases is because senior figures in his administration such as Security Minister Wiranto and others close to his PDI-P ruling party's chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri would face indictment.
Between 1997 and 1998 as many as 23 pro-democracy activists were abducted by members of the army's Special Forces (Kopassus). After extended periods of detention – in many cases the victims were severely tortured – most were released although 13 remain missing and are presumed dead. Former Kopassus commander Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto who was at the time President Suharto's son-in-law, has admitted to ordering the abductions but denies ordering their torture and claims they were all released alive and well.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Kontras Harap Panelis Berikan Pertanyaan Tajam ke Jokowi dan Prabowo".]