On July 13, 2017, the Tifa Foundation, together with the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia, held a focus group discussion with a number of journalists from various media outlets regarding efforts to better protect and uphold human rights, as well as the launch of the Tifa Foundation’s Annual Report for the 2015–2016 period, which marked the beginning of a series of events celebrating the Tifa Foundation’s 17th anniversary.

The event featured the following panelists: Jimly Asshiddiqie, Chair of the Selection Committee for Candidates for Commissioners of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) for the 2017–2022 term; Totok Yulianto, a member of the Save Komnas HAM Coalition; human rights activist Harry Wibowo; and Darmawan Triwibowo, Executive Director of the Tifa Foundation.

Addressing the issue of human rights enforcement in Indonesia, Darmawan stated that Indonesia is currently facing serious challenges, particularly regarding the declining credibility of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), especially over the past five years. In fact, this issue is merely the tip of the iceberg.

“That (the decline in credibility) is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the overall set of problems. At its core, the government’s lack of political commitment is the biggest obstacle that has never been resolved since the beginning of the reform era,” said Darmawawan.

Many acknowledge that the performance of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has declined. In fact, as quoted by CNN Indonesia, Fery Kusuma, head of the Impunity Monitoring Division at the Commission for the Missing and Victims of Violence (KontraS), stated that the 2012–2017 term of Komnas HAM was the worst in the institution’s history. “If we look at the history of Komnas HAM since 1993, the current term is the one with the worst performance,” said Fery. 

In addition to indications of corruption and the failure to resolve a number of human rights violations, Fery noted that changes in leadership structure are seen as the main reason why Komnas HAM’s performance is currently poor compared to previous periods. “That is the root of the problem, which has led to a drastic decline in Komnas HAM’s performance,” he said, as reported by CNN Indonesia.

Nevertheless, many still hope that Komnas HAM, as an independent state institution, will be able to fulfill its mandate to ensure the creation of conditions conducive to the protection and enforcement of human rights in Indonesia.

In response to this, Jimly Asshiddiqie, Chair of the Selection Committee for Candidates for Commissioners of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for the 2017–2022 term, argued that rather than dissolving Komnas HAM, the commission should instead be strengthened. Jimly added, “And this can begin by selecting the right people (commissioners).”

To strengthen the position of Komnas HAM and ensure the selection of qualified individuals, the Tifa Foundation fully supports the efforts of the Save Komnas HAM Coalition in evaluating the track records and monitoring the ongoing selection process for commissioner candidates.

In addition to highlighting the government’s political commitment to upholding human rights, Darmawan also discussed how journalists and the media can play a greater role in ensuring that human rights are upheld. “Journalists and the media actually have significant potential and a significant role to play in strengthening public oversight and making the ongoing process [of selecting Human Rights Commission commissioners] more transparent and accountable,” said Darmawan.

Journalists play a role in championing the public interest and empowering the public to monitor the selection of National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) commissioners and ensure the transparency and accountability of the ongoing process, particularly the final selection process in parliament. Although Komnas HAM’s performance has been deemed to have declined, hopes still rest on the institution to resolve various cases of human rights violations that have occurred. “And each of us has a duty to uphold that hope, including journalists,” Darmawan concluded.