The material judicial review hearing of Law No. 26 of 2000 on the Human Rights Court, Monday (10/21/2022). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Monday, November 21, 2022 | 12:52 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Constitutional Court (MK) held the third hearing for the material judicial review petition of Law No. 26 of 2000 on Human Rights Court on Monday, November 21, 2022 in the plenary courtroom. The case No. 89/PUU-XX/2022 was filed by Marzuki Darusman, Muhammad Busyro Muqoddas, and the Alliance of the Independent Journalists (AJI) (Petitioners I-III). The Court was supposed to hear the House of Representatives (DPR) and the President, but the House were indisposed and the President’s counsel requested that the hearing be delayed because they were unprepared with their testimony.

“Today’s hearing was supposed to present the testimonies of the House and the President. The Court’s Registrar’s Office reported that the House would be indisposed and the President’s counsel requested a delay because they weren’t ready to testify. Therefore, the hearing will be delayed until Monday, November 28, 2022 at 11:00 WIB to hear the House and the President,” said Chief Justice Anwar Usman.

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At the preliminary hearing, the Petitioners argued that the phrase ‘by an Indonesian citizen’ in Article 5 of the Human Rights Court Law had eliminated the state’s responsibility to keep world peace, as the 1945 Constitution mandated, and eliminated the state’s responsibility in crimes in which another state is involved. The current political situation in Myanmar is still in disarray after the military declared a state of emergency. Gross human rights violations have been committed and are still ongoing.

(Argentine professor of human rights law) Juan E. Mendez stated that the state has the responsibility to protect victims and the people in case of massive, systemic crimes on human rights. The problem is that under the limits of Article 5 of the Human Rights Court Law, victims of human rights violations in Myanmar would find it difficult to fight for their constitutional rights. Myanmar citizens cannot petition the International Criminal Court because Myanmar did not sign the Rome Statute. It would also be impossible for a country such as Myanmar with its military junta to establish a human rights court to try their officials who have committed human rights violations.

The Petitioners believe there has been a legal vacuum in the case of gross human rights violations in Asia, so there needs to be a way to protect citizens, not only of Myanmar but also of ASEAN in general, so that they could have the right to personal defense. He said that it would be a very progressive legal move to grant the petition. Therefore, in the petitum, the Petitioners requested that the Court grant the entire petition and “declare the phrase ‘by an Indonesian citizen’ in Article 5 of Law No. 26 of 2000 on Human Rights Court unconstitutional.” 

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Nur R.
PR            : Tiara Agustina
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 10/22/2022 08:29 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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