On election eve, all 3 of Indonesia’s presidential candidates have troubling human rights records

• After nearly three months of campaigning, the three pairs vying for presidential and vice presidential seats are now in the cooling-off period.
• That past is why the commitments of candidates to resolve human rights violations always come up during Indonesian elections.

Anies: concerns about his backers

• Their programs related to human rights underlines Anies’ pledges to strengthen national human rights institutions, resolve past human rights cases and provide socio-economic recovery for victims of human rights violations.
• Anies is the candidate with the most comprehensive details on his plans to revise regulations hindering press freedom and civil liberties.

Prabowo: haunted by deadly human rights allegations

• Frontrunner Prabowo Subianto, who is running with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, has pledged to strengthen democracy by protecting human rights for citizens.
• The pair have also promised to eliminate discriminatory practices, including protecting the fundamental rights of communities and vulnerable groups.
• However, only Prabowo-Gibran have not included any program to resolve past human rights violations among all candidates.

Ganjar: unresolved agrarian disputes

• However, they do not expressly state what kinds of programs they will have to achieve this.
• Ganjar has a poor record on agrarian conflicts during his tenure as the former governor of Central Java.
• In 2018, he issued an environmental permit to construct the Bener Dam in Purworejo, Central Java, as part of a mining site.

No candidate is clean

• The three presidential and vice-presidential pairs and their supporters have yet to be entirely assertive on the issue of civil liberties and human rights protection.
• Given their track records, Indonesian voters face a challenge to vote for the candidate with the clearest position on human rights issues, given no one is thoroughly “clean” from human rights controversies.

Eka Nugraha Putra tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.