PIKIRAN RAKYAT – The history of Indonesia is marked by several serious Human Rights Violations (HRV). There are at least 12 cases of serious HRV, including the 1965-1966 Incident, the Mystery Shooting Incident (Petrus) 1982-1985, the Talangsari Lampung Incident 1989, the Rumoh Geudong and Pos Sattis Aceh Incident 1989, the Forced Disappearance Incident 1997-1988, and the May 1998 Riot Incident.
Furthermore, there were the Trisakti and Semanggi I-II Incident 1998-1999, the Murder of the Sorcerer Incident 1998-1999, the Simpang KAA Incident in Aceh 1999, the Wasior Incident in Papua 2001-2002, the Wamena Incident in Papua 2003, and the Jambo Keupok Incident in Aceh 2003.
However, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD has stated that the Indonesian government will not apologize to the public regarding the 12 serious HRV cases.
According to Mahfud MD, the decision not to apologize is included in the recommendation of the Non-Judicial Settlement Team for Serious HRV during a meeting chaired by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in Jakarta on May 2, 2023.
Baca Juga: Pemerintah Akui 12 Peristiwa Pelanggaran HAM Berat tapi Tolak Minta Maaf
"In the non-judicial settlement recommendation, there is no apology from the government to the public regarding those incidents," Mahfud MD said.
However, Mahfud MD stated that the Indonesian government acknowledges that the 12 serious HRV incidents did occur and resulted in victims.
"But the government acknowledges that those incidents did happen, and the government regrets their occurrence," Mahfud MD explained in a press statement.
Regarding this acknowledgement, President Jokowi issued Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 2 of 2023 on the Implementation of Non-Judicial Settlement Recommendations for Human Rights Violations (PPHAM).