Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Director-General for Human Rights Mualimin Abdi testifying on behalf of the Government at the material judicial review hearing of Law No. 26 of 2000 on Human Rights Court, Wednesday (12/14/2022). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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Wednesday, December 14, 2022 | 14:24 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — Following Article 28I paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution, the state bears responsibility where any Indonesian citizen is involved in gross human rights violations. Therefore, Article 5 of the Human Rights Court Law has been in line with the 1945 Constitution, said the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Director-General for Human Rights Mualimin Abdi when conveying the president’s/Government’s testimony at the sixth material judicial review hearing of Law No. 26 of 2000 on Human Rights Court on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.

He further said that the human rights court is authorized to examine and rule on cases of gross human rights violations outside of the territory of the Republic of Indonesia committed by Indonesians, and thus the a quo norm is not unconstitutional. Therefore, the Government appealed to the Court to accept its testimony and reject the Petitioners’ petition in its entirety.

“At this hearing, on behalf of the Government, I will read out the important points and the complete written testimony will be submitted next week,” he said.

In response, Constitutional Justice Saldi Isra requested that the testimony include several things, such as the debate on the norm and the extension of the article in question that allows for the human rights court to rule on cases not involving Indonesian citizens. He also requested that the Government write on the human rights court for foreign nationals. He also asked them to mention the implementation of the principle of nationality in criminal law.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih requested that the Government add Indonesia’s political stance in its foreign relations in the face of international crimes, especially what has been happening in Myanmar.

Before concluding the session, Chief Justice Anwar Usman announced that the next hearing will take place on Tuesday, January 16, 2023 at 11:00 WIB to hear the statements of two experts and one witness for the Petitioners.

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The case No. 89/PUU-XX/2022 on the material judicial review of Law No. 26 of 2000 on Human Rights Court was filed by Marzuki Darusman, Muhammad Busyro Muqoddas, and the Alliance of the Independent Journalists (AJI) (Petitioners I-III).

At the preliminary hearing on Monday, September 26, 2022, 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.

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.

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 12/16/2022 06:29 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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