Yvette Tanamal, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia has criticized senior minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra for "empty rhetoric" in a speech he gave to commemorate International Human Rights Day, amid sluggish progress in resolving past atrocities and persistent reports of police brutality and discrimination against religious minorities.
In his speech this week, the coordinating law, human rights, immigration and correctional services minister encouraged Indonesians not to be trapped by the past and asserted the government's commitment to resolving past gross rights abuse cases.
Amnesty Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said in a statement that "Yusril's empty rhetoric reflects the state's continued failure in resolving past rights cases".
"[The rhetoric] further enables the culture of impunity for state security apparatus involved in human rights violations, despite [Yusril's] assertion that every citizen has equal indiscriminate rights regardless of their background," Usman added.
In the speech on Tuesday evening, Yusril, who has previously drawn criticism for controversial comments on past atrocities, emphasized the importance of upholding human rights, saying that collective efforts to "protect, advance and defend" every citizen were key to the country's future.
He pledged that the administration of President Prabowo Subianto would focus on continuing the human rights progress made by the previous administration, including by supporting the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and enforcing human rights laws.
"We have to look forward. We record the events of the past, we resolve them to the best of our abilities, but let us not be wrapped up in vengeance and hostility," Yusril said.
"For past and future cases, we have successfully formed human rights courts to resolve cases of gross human rights violations," he added.
Usman of Amnesty described Yusril's statement as "insubstantial and easily debunked by observable facts", suggesting that the sentiment was counterproductive in solving the increasing trend of police brutality as well as violence by the military in certain parts of the country.
"The Reform movement has actually given us many legal grounds and regulations to uphold human rights, but the reality of what is happening on the ground is still far from our expectations," Usman said.
In late October, just hours before he was inaugurated as minister, Yusril drew criticism for telling reporters that the unresolved May 1998 tragedy could not be categorized as a gross human rights violation and that the designation should be reserved for genocide, mass killings and ethnic cleansing.
Rights groups said Yusril's comment was historically and legally incorrect, pointing out that prevailing laws stipulated that crimes against humanity were gross human rights abuses and that there was sufficient preliminary evidence of alleged crimes against humanity related to the May incidents.
In May 1998, a string of demonstrations led to mass violence and unrest that resulted in over 1,200 deaths and at least 52 rape cases, with most of the victims being Chinese Indonesians.
Rights activists also criticized Yusril for showing a lack of empathy for the victims, many of whom have spent years seeking justice from the state.
In response, Yusril claimed he misunderstood the question.
"It was not really clear what they asked me about. If the questions were about genocide or ethnic cleansing, well, none of that happened in 1998," he said at the time.
Yusril also said the Prabowo administration was committed to resolving all past atrocities.