PP HAM Formed, Mahfud MD Will Meet Victims Of Past Serious Human Rights Violations

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD (center) gave information to the media/ANTARA

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD emphasized that the Team for the Settlement of Non-Judicial Past Serious Human Rights Violations (PP HAM) worked to restore the rights of victims, including victims of the 1965 –1966 incident, not to revive communism. No new legal policy has changed after the PP HAM Team was formed because its focus is only on restoring the rights of victims of past human rights violations. “So there is no new legal politics about ideology, about communism. This is in accordance with the Basic Law (1945). The rights of victims of crimes or gross human rights violations must be prioritized because the legal procedures provided by the country cannot work,” Mahfud MD said during a press conference at his office, Jakarta, Antara, Tuesday, August 22. Mahfud assessed that along with the settlement through judicial channels, the restoration of the rights of victims, which is one of the non-judicial settlements, must run. Therefore, Mahfud will meet the victims directly, namely those who became the executor of the 1965 –1966 events in several countries, such as the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During his visit, Mahfud will hear the requests of the victims and convey the rights they must accept as victims of gross human rights violations. " “ Now there are approximately 130 (people) in various countries. We want to go to that because in general they only ask that they are not considered traitors, they ask that they are citizens who are loyal to Indonesia. We want to offer (they) to go home, but not many want to go home because they are 82 years old, 83 years old so we will discuss there stating about their constitutional rights,” said Mahfud MD. Mahfud conveyed that the extortion that was the victim during the 1965 –1966 incident was mostly Indonesian students who studied abroad, but they could not return to Indonesia. Many people who attended Europe at that time were not allowed to go home because they did not make a statement condemning the old government. "They, I don't know inside because he signed, then his passport was revoked and couldn't go home. That's a lot," he said.

In the Netherlands, Mahfud is scheduled to meet the excavators in Amsterdam, while in the Czech Republic, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs and his team will meet with the excavators in Prague. Mahfud will also visit Turkey and South Korea, but that is to sign security cooperation documents with the government of the two countries. Mahfud MD is scheduled to depart on Tuesday afternoon.