Jayapura, Jubi TV – Impunity Monitoring head of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) Tioria Pretty said an Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for the Bloody Paniai case should be established at the Jayapura District Court. Tioria said she was surprised that the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) delegated the case file to the Makassar District Court.
The delegation was based on Article 45 paragraph (2) letter c. Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts. Tioria said it was incorrect to base the delegation on that article because the provision actually stipulates that the first Papua human rights trial be tried at the Makassar Human Rights Court. “The next trial should be held in Jayapura,” she said during a discussion held by the Alliance for Democracy for Papua (AlDP) on Friday, July 22, 2022.
She further said that Article 3 of the Human Rights Court Law should instead be the main basis for determining which District Court should establish the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for the Bloody Paniai case. “The Human Rights Court Law itself mandates that the trial of the Human Rights Court is held where the case occurred. The Attorney General’s Office should have noticed the article,” said Tioria.
Tioria also assessed that the AGO’s move to delegate the Bloody Paniai case file to the Makassar District Court proved that the Special Autonomy Law had failed to promote and spread human rights in Papua. That is because Article 45 of the old Papua Special Autonomy Law No. 21/2001 actually mandates the government to establish a Human Rights Court in Papua.
“From 2001 until now there has been no change in terms of justice for human rights violations that have occurred in Papua,” she said.
Meanwhile, United for Truth secretary Nehemia Yarinab said the state must give justice to the victims of human rights violations and their families, including the Bloody Paniai tragedy.
“The Indonesian government should not only seek a good name. If the government’s motivation is only for a good image, the process of resolving human rights violations will never be completed, and the victims and the victims’ families will continue to be hurt,” he said. (*)
