Indonesia is not obliged to comply with IPT`s ruling: House speaker

The Indonesian government is not obliged to comply with the International Peoples Tribunal (IPT) 1965s decision, which recommends Indonesia to apologize to the victims of human rights crimes from 1965 to 1966, a lawmaker stated.

"The government or state has no obligation to comply with the decision as we do not recognize the IPTs legal system," Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives Ade Komarudin noted here on Friday.

The House speaker said he had no objection to the IPT issuing the decision. However, Indonesia is a sovereign state and is not obliged to comply with it.

"Indonesia does not recognize such a ruling, so it is not under any obligation to implement it," he emphasized.

The politician of the Golkar Party pointed out that the Indonesian nation faced several political tragedies, and lessons should be learnt from them to prevent a recurrence of human rights crimes in future.

The Indonesian nation must hold its ground in the face of global pressure, including the global economic turmoil, he noted.

"If we are not prudent, we will not be able to withstand (the global pressure)," he remarked.

The Hague-based tribunal, in its ruling, had earlier held Indonesia responsible for 10 gross human rights violations committed between 1965 and 1966.

"The mass killings and all immoral criminal offenses committed during the 1965 event and thereafter and the failure to prevent them or take action against the perpetrators was entirely the responsibility of the Indonesian government," chief justice of IPT 1965 Zak Yacoob stated in a video recording screened at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation here on Wednesday.

The ten gross human rights violations include mass killings, annihilation, incarceration, slavery, torture, forced disappearance, sexual violence, fake propaganda, and genocide.(*) Source: ANTARA