The National Commission on Human Rights ( id, Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia, usually abbreviated as Komnas HAM) is the
national human rights institution
A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to broadly protect and promote human rights in a given country. The growth of such bodies has been encouraged by the Office of the United ...
(NHRI) of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. As with other NHRIs, its principal functions are the protection and promotion of
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
.
History
The commission was established by the
Suharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
regime through a Presidential Decree No. 50 of 1993, shortly after
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...
resolution 1993/97 expressed grave concern over allegations of serious human rights violations by the government of Indonesia.
Komnas HAM's jurisdiction included human rights issues in
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
until the territory voted to secede from Indonesia. It also investigated unresolved cases such as the murder of
Marsinah
Marsinah (10 April 1969 – 8 May 1993) was an independent trade unionist employed in a watch factory in East Java, Indonesia, whose murder drew international attention to the Suharto dictatorship's brutal repression of workers.
Marsinah was ...
.
After the 1998
downfall of Suharto, the 1993 decree was superseded by Law No. 39 of 1999 which set out the functions of Komnas HAM, and provided for its funding, membership and powers.
Following calls for Komnas HAM to inquire into the 1984
Tanjung Priok massacre
The Tanjung Priok massacre was an incident that occurred in the port area of Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, Indonesia in 1984. Government reports give a total of 24 killed and 54 injured, while survivors report over 100 killed.
Background
On 10 Se ...
, the Human Rights Law of 2000 (No. 26) gave it the power to investigate alleged human rights abuses, if necessary by forming ''ad hoc'' investigative teams bringing in outside expertise. It issued two reports on the 1984 killings. In 2008, it reopened an investigation into the 1998
Trisakti shootings
The Trisakti shootings, also known as the Trisakti tragedy ( id, Tragedi Trisakti), took place at Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia on 12 May 1998. At a demonstration demanding President Suharto's resignation, TNI-AD soldiers opened fi ...
in which four students were shot dead by state security forces.
In 2008, Law No. 40 gave Komnas HAM additional responsibilities in the prevention of racial and ethnic discrimination.
In all of its work, Komnas HAM is required to have regard to human rights defined in national legislation and in international instruments to which Indonesia is party.
International status
In 2000, with support from the
, Komnas HAM secured 'A-status' accreditation from the peer review process of the
International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs (ICC), giving it enhanced access to the United Nations human rights bodies. That status was subjected to reviewed by the ICC in March 2007, and reaffirmed.
Chart of accreditation status of NHRIs
/ref> The Commission is a member of the Asia Pacific Forum
The Asia Pacific Forum (APF) is one of four regional networks of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) within the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs. The APF formerly accredited NHRIs for compliance with the United Nations' Pari ...
, one of the four regional groupings in the ICC.
See also
*Human rights in Indonesia
Human rights in Indonesia are defined by the 1945 Constitution (UUD 1945) and the laws under it; several rights are guaranteed especially as a result of the constitutional amendments following the Reform era. The Ministry of Law and Human Rig ...
*National human rights institutions
A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to broadly protect and promote human rights in a given country. The growth of such bodies has been encouraged by the Office of the United ...
*Paris Principles Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include:
Listed by name
Paris Accords
may refer to:
* Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germa ...
*National Commission on Violence against Women (Indonesia)
The National Commission on Violence against Women ( id, Komisi Nasional Anti Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan, commonly abbreviated as ) is an Indonesian independent state institution established in 1998 with the goal of eliminating violence against ...
References
External links
Official site of Komnas HAMOHCHR National Human Rights Institutions site
{{Authority control
Human rights organizations based in Indonesia
National human rights institutions