CHRM2 has facilitated a short course on transitional justice in Indonesia on 6-10 August 2017, a programme conducted by Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) in cooperation with Indonesian Consortium of Human Rights Lecturer (SEPAHAM Indonesia). It is conducted on the 5th floor, CDAST Building, University of Jember.
The event invited Indonesia’s renowned experts and practitioners on human rights, such as Galuh Wandita (AJAR), Sri Lestari Wahyoeningroem (Universitas Indonesia), Herlambang Perdana Wiratraman (Universitas Airlangga), Patrick Burgess (AJAR), Haris Azhar (Universitas Trisakti), and Manunggal Wardaya (Universitas Jenderal Soedirman). It is attended by human rights lecturers in Indonesia, by which it is to develop and strengthen understanding of transitional justice from diverse disciplines, inter alia, law, political science, international relations, history, philosophy, psychology, and other cognate disciplines. It aims to analyze the complexities of inherited conflicts and violations of human rights in Indonesia from various perspectives and disciplines, including the process and implementation from the various mechanisms of transitional justice in Indonesia and other countries experienced conflicts and authoritaritarianism.
The short course is conducted with the view that Indonesia towards two decades of reformation has not shown a radical change yet, in terms of the enforcement of human rights and justice. In contrast, both are the very essence of democracy. By considering specific issues, it needs to unravel and resolve human rights violation in the past, including righteous disclosure, institutional reform, and remedy to victims. In the context, the discourse and practice of procedural democracy have ironically given the chance to the perpetrators of human rights to obtain a new power in the political arena. The underlying fact is that it has transformed into other scales in the society, while reconciliation and justice failed to be achieved. Hence, it needs a new approach in such transition which stands under the interest of victims of human rights violation with the term transitional justice.
Antika Nuraini, Coordinator AJAR Bali, asserts that the course has a pioneering program in which it is not solely the course, but it will be followed by certain action plans. It can be exemplified with the drafting of guidelines of human rights course in the higher education level, so that it can advocate the very concern on the human rights issues in Indonesia, specifically on the unending issues of human rights violation in the past. In addition, as an annual programme, such course also involve other than academicians, but also practitioners and other related actors to human rights issues, including state actor (government). She tells that AJAR had held the partnership with state actors such as in Aceh, Palu, and other areas that experienced with gross violation of human rights in the past.