The Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Role in Investigating Alleged Human Rights Violations and Grave Human Rights Violations in Aceh

Abstract

With the signing of the Helsinki Memorandum of Agreement, the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka/GAM) and the Indonesian government renewed their agreement, giving rise to the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The government of Aceh established the independent, non-underlying organization known as the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission, whose mission is to settle conflicts inside Aceh. Article 299 of Law Number 11 of 2006 concerning the Governance of Aceh regulates the existence of the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Qanun Number 17 of 2013 concerning the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission elaborates on this further. This work is done in order to make the present struggles' reality more understandable. Field research, or empirical research methods, are used to collect primary data through interviews and then use a qualitative analysis method to examine the collected data. Finding the truth and exposing instances of grave human rights violations is the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s responsibility. The research findings show that the commission's database has shortcomings as a result of the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission responsibility to look into human rights breaches that conflicts with the AcehTruth and Reconciliation Commission policy about the ability to compel witnesses or individuals to appear in person. The Human Rights Court, in compliance with Human Rights Court law, is the authority that has the jurisdiction to decide cases of violations of human rights. Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a non-legal organization and the Human Rights Court is a judicial entity, there is a discrepancy in power in this case. The Indonesian government and legal authorities should reevaluate this. In order to present a comprehensive picture of the human rights violations that took place during the Aceh war, including the location, time, patterns, and reasons behind torture occurrences, as well as to examine the causes and events that led up to them, investigation and field study are done as part of the Truth Disclosure. The objective is to formulate suggestions and insights derived from the factual conclusions of the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission concerning the reality of torture committed throughout the conflict. Three incidences in Indonesia that President Joko Widodo identified as grave human rights abuses are recommendations from the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission to the Human Rights Enforcement Team, which was established in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 17 of 2022.