Friday, March 29, 2024 | 06:06 WIB

Freedom: Then and Now

Gede Sandra
Gede Sandra, Lecturer at Bung Karno University

The list did not stop there. Among the most notorious illicit land appropriations by the then Government was the case of Kedung Ombo (1989), when not less than 5,800 families had to give up their village holdings for the Government’s reservoir project. Other land cases included Jenggawah in Jember (1977), Siria Ria in Tapanuli (1977), Badega (1984), Cimacan (1988) and many others that went unreported. 

That era was notorious for the lack of freedom of the press. Several government-censuring news media were banned for being overcritical. 

Read: BEM SI threatens to encircle Palace, demand Jokowi’s firmer stance

However, human rights violations persist in the current Reform Era, especially in Jokowi’s regime. The most talked-about was the shooting of FPI members at KM50 Jakarta-Cikampek Road, when six people died. Kontras (the Commission for Disappeared and Victims of Violence) stated that the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo government neglected to resolve human rights violations occurring in the past. 

On May 22, 2019, six protesters who contested the result of the 2019 presidential election met their demise. The 2019 election was the bloodiest ever, as a recent report claimed that the death toll of KPPS (groups of voting organizers assigned at polling stations) personnel reached 890 people. This was a blatant human rights violation of the state to its people. 

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