https://jakartaglobe.id/news/after-4-years-in-office-jokowi-has-yet-to-fulfil-human-rights-promises-civil-society-groups-say/

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The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said in a report last week that President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has not yet accomplished any of his 17 priority programs on human rights, which form part of his Nawa Cita agenda. (Antara Photo/Puspa Perwitasari)

By : Sheany | on 8:34 PM October 25, 2018
Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has yet to fulfil many of his campaign promises, four years after taking office, civil society organizations say.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said in a report published last week that Jokowi has not yet accomplished any of his 17 priority programs on human rights, which were laid out under his Nawa Cita priority agenda.

The report showed that 11 human rights commitments have been partially accomplished, such as land rights, disability rights and indigenous people's rights.

However, Kontras said the president failed to accomplish the remaining six, which include addressing past human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings and religious freedom.

"Human rights are not a priority for the government. The human rights agenda lacks priority compared with the government's obsession to develop infrastructure," Kontras said.

The Jakarta-based Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) meanwhile said the Jokowi administration should evaluate existing policies to ensure human rights are protected in the criminal justice system.

"The ICJR noted that the accomplishments and developments on criminal justice reform under Joko Widodo's administration have yet to fulfill and realize what was laid out in the fourth point of Nawa Cita," the organization said, referring to the president's 2014 campaign program.

When Jokowi took office in October 2014, one of his priority programs included reform of the criminal justice system to make it dignified, trustworthy and free of corruption.

The ICJR pointed to ongoing deliberations in the House of Representatives on revisions to Indonesia's criminal code, which it said at this stage still lacks a human rights approach and has yet to prioritize protections for children, women and marginalized groups.

"The revisions are still very much colonial and authoritarian; most of the colonial-era clauses in the criminal code still exist in the revision," the organization said.

Jokowi must increase efforts to abolish the death penalty, protect freedom of expression and opinion and improve existing policies to address prison overcrowding, the ICJR said.