Masyhudi, an advisor for the Attorney General’s Office, testifying on behalf of the Government at a judicial review hearing of the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Terrorism, Monday (2/26/2024). Photo by MKRI/Panji.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Compensation is the right of victims of acts of terrorism. The Government Regulation (PP) No. 35 of 2020 has regulated compensation for three groups of victims: victims of past terrorism, victims of terrorist acts after Law No. 5 of 2018 (Anti-Terrorism Law), and Indonesian citizens who are victims of terrorist acts abroad. The statement was made by Masyhudi, an advisor for the Attorney General’s Office, at a material judicial review hearing of Article 43L paragraph (4) of Law No. 5 of 2018 on the Amendment to Law No. 15 of 2003 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2022 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Terrorism into Law (Anti-Terrorism Law) on Monday, February 26, 2024. The fifth hearing for case No. 103/PUU-XXI/2023—filed by Peria Ronald Pidu, Mulyadi Taufik Hidayat, and Febri Bagus Kuncoro (Petitioners I-III)—was set to hear the Government/President and the Petitioners’ experts.

“After the Anti-Terrorism Law was enacted, compensation for victims of terrorist acts is given based on a court decision. It also applies to victims of terrorism abroad. As for the compensation for victims of past terrorism, it will be directly delivered by the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) without a court decision, and the payment of compensation for the three groups is entirely carried out by LPSK,” said Masyhudi in the plenary courtroom.

Before Chief Justice Suhartoyo and the other constitutional justices, he elaborates that the state’s policy to compensate victims of terrorism is calculated and adjusted to its budget/capability. Thus, if it is not regulated for a long period of time, it will lead to legal uncertainty. Therefore, Article 43L paragraph (4) of the Anti-Terrorism Law that regulates the three-year period has provided sufficient time to prepare to submit a petition.

“So, the norm has provided legal certainty for victims of terrorism before the enactment of the [Anti-Terrorism] Law, so that the Petitioners’ loss is not a constitutional loss,” he said.

Compensation through LPSK

Meanwhile, regarding requests for compensation, medical assistance, or psychosocial and psychological rehabilitation for direct victims of criminal acts of terrorism until August 2020, Masyhudi said that LPSK had received requests for protection from 564 victims involving at least 65 terrorist attacks in Indonesia.

Of the 65 incidents, 45 incidents occurred before the ratification of the Anti-Terrorism Law, which began with the Bali 1 bombing in 2002. The next 19 terrorism incidents occurred after the enactment of the Law. Of the recorded incidents, there are still seven terrorism incidents with 182 victims whose compensation has been decided by the court but whose payment is still pending. The Government through LPSK—in January 2021 with the Working Team for the Acceleration of Handling Victims of Past Terrorism Crimes (PPKTML)—has conducted assessments and confirmed the results of examinations of 357 victims and has provided a number of compensations in accordance with applicable decisions.

Three-Year Limit

At the hearing, the Petitioners presented Aan Eko Widiarto and Riawan Tjandra as experts to provide views on the three-year time limit for filing a petition for compensation for victims of terrorism. Aan Eko Widiarto, an academic from the Law Faculty of Universitas Brawijaya, said the fulfillment of the three-year deadline as determined by the norm does not define direct victims as someone who experienced physical, mental, and/or economic losses caused by a criminal act of terrorism.

Given that the Government Regulation (PP) No. 35 of 2020 on the Amendment to PP No. 7 of 2018 on the Granting of Compensation, Restitution, and Assistance to Witnesses and Victims, which delegates the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Law, was only promulgated on July 8, 2020, there was a two-year gap. As a result of COVID-19, direct victims are left with only one year to fulfill the requirements of the petition for compensation.

“With the enforcement of Article 43L paragraph (7) of the [Anti-Terrorism] Law, it is impossible for direct victims of past acts of terrorism to obtain their rights to compensation, medical assistance, or psychosocial and psychological rehabilitation, so they do not receive protection and fulfillment of human rights. Therefore, the provisions of this law clearly contradict the 1945 Constitution, especially Article 28I paragraph (4), which states that the protection, promotion, enforcement, and fulfillment of human rights is the responsibility of the state, especially the government,” Aan explained.

Restricting Government

Meanwhile, law lecturer of Atma Jaya University Yogyakarta Riawan Tjandra said that the limitation of the period for budget claim should not result in a person being prevented from obtaining their rights as long as the funding has been planned and allocated in the state budget and derived from the budget of the ministry/agency. He believes the unclear purpose of Article 43L of the Anti-Terrorism Law can actually hinder the Government from carrying out its responsibility to protect the public from terrorism crimes in the future.

“Therefore, legal norms that are restrictive without clarity on the subject or object being restricted actually deny the regulation of rights in the Law. Therefore, it becomes a legal norm that contains a fallacy,” he said.

Also read:

Provision on Application of Compensation for Terrorism Victims Challenged

Petitioners Affirm Petition on Compensation for Terrorism Victims

House Absent, Govt Asks for Time to Prepare for Hearing on Anti-Terrorism Law

At the preliminary hearing, the Petitioners asserted that the article had taken away the victims’ right to rehabilitation. The Petitioners are survivors of terrorism acts that had occurred before the Anti-Terrorism Law entered into force. They have not received any compensation or financial aid while victims of terrorism acts are eligible for it if they file a petition to the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) by submitting a letter that validates them as victims of criminal acts of terrorism issued by the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).

The filing of such a petition is limited to three years since the Law entered into force, i.e. June 22, 2018. Any petition filed after this deadline cannot result in compensation. This impacts the LPSK and the BNPT’s time frame for providing information to victims all across Indonesia.

In 2020, the LPSK distributed compensation amounting to a total of Rp39,205,000,000 to 215 victims of criminal acts of terrorism. In 2021 and 2022, it gave 357 victims compensation with a total Rp59,720,000,000. However, not all victims have received compensation. The short time limit has led to injustice for the victims. In addition, disproportionate information to terrorism victims across Indonesia means that not all victims have received compensation for the rehabilitation. This provision regulating time limit to file a petition for compensation is against the spirit of legal protection for victims. Therefore, in their petitum, the Petitioners requested that the Court declare Article 43L paragraph (4) of the Anti-Terrorism Law unconstitutional and not legally binding.

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : Andhini S.F.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

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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