Between Law, Politics and Memory: The Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and Justice for Past Human Rights Crimes

Abstract

Since the 1998 fall of authoritarianism, one of the most controversial questions in Indonesia has been what to do with the country’s legacy of human rights violations. Various justice measures developed at the national level, whether judicial or non- judicial in nature, have been largely unsuccessful in establishing the truth about past crimes, holding perpetrators to account, or providing redress to those who were victimised. This article seeks to explain why justice for past human rights crimes remains elusive in contemporary Indonesia, using the 2012 report of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) on the 1965-66 mass violence as a case study. The article will use critical disc..