The Politics of Transitional Justice in Post-Suharto Indonesia DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jiwon Suh Graduate Program in Political Science The Ohio State University 2012 Dissertation Committee: R. William Liddle, Advisor Marcus J. Kurtz Sara Watson Copyrighted by Jiwon Suh 2012 Abstract This study is an attempt to explain adoption and implementation of transitional justice mechanisms in post-Suharto Indonesia (1998–). In latecomer democracies, the internationalized context of transitional justice, working through international pressure and diffusion of ready-made norms and models, facilitates adoption of transitional justice mechanisms, such as trials and truth commissions, for certain categories of past political violence. In Indonesia, where the international advocacy campaigns for the Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor (1991) gave rise to mechanisms for dealing with human rights abuses by the military before the transition, international pressure against the East Timor referendum violence in 1999 led to adoption of two comprehensive mechanisms as preemptive measures preferable to worse alternatives: a domestic ad-hoc human rights court system against an international court for East Timor, and a truth and reconciliation commission – truth-seeking combined with amnesty – against domestic ad-hoc human rights courts. In this process, Indonesian human rights activists or “domestic norm entrepreneurs” played an indispensable role in promoting norms, models, and repertoires of action related to transitional justice, and influenced adoption of the bills and their final forms. Rather than passively relying on international allies, these norm entrepreneurs actively introduced models from a wide range of sources through direct and indirect ii linkages, and took initiative in reaching out to international allies to boost their campaigns. Adoption and implementation of mechanisms are different processes, however. The Indonesian ad-hoc court mechanism was under-utilized, and the truth and reconciliation commission has never been established. In Aceh, where the decades-long conflict between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) ended in 2005, additional guarantees for transitional justice mechanisms on the peace agreement and the autonomy law were abandoned too. Through comparisons with South Korea and Taiwan, I explore the sources of sustainable pressure that motivate political elites to prioritize the transitional justice issue beyond the immediate transitional period. I propose that the politics of partisan memories – the presence of particular constituencies that would support transitional justice based on a shared identity with victims of human rights abuses – as a possible source of such pressure. In South Korea and Taiwan, the association of identity-based cleavages with the victimized groups encouraged politicians to implement and expand measures, while this partisan motivation was weak and inconsistent in Indonesia. This study suggests that we should examine the political processes of transitional justice more closely, rather than simply blaming the “lack of political will.” It also suggests that, to make advocacy strategies sustainable and effective, it is necessary to prepare for the era after international pressure is largely gone. iii Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible without support of many people, foremostly my committee members. My advisor and committee chair Pak Bill, R. William Liddle, guided my training and research from the moment I arrived in Columbus. His warm support has been essential to the progress of this study. Marcus Kurtz and Sara Watson generously agreed to serve on my committee and offered comments and suggestions. I have benefited profoundly from their encouragement and intellectual advice. Irfan Nooruddin led our third-year comparative politics dissertation workshop, shaping this project at its earliest stage with comments and quick tips. Friends at the informal comparative politics dissertation group – Danielle Langfield, Jenny Nowlin, Soundarya Chidambaram, and our coordinator Miryam Chandler – gave very helpful comments for earlier outlines of the dissertation. I also received invaluable tips and advice for my field research and dissertation-writing from a number of Indonesianists outside the OSU – Jacqueline Aquino Siapno, Eunsook Jung, Hyung-Jun Kim, and Yoon Hwan Shin. My ten-month field research in Jakarta and Banda Aceh was funded by Fieldwork Scholarship for Korean Experts on Asia by POSCO TJ Park Foundation. Before that, Graduate Student Research Grant from the Mershon Center for International Security iv Studies at Ohio State University and Sonkin-Bergman-Wasserman Families’ Scholarship for International Understanding and Peace funded my two-month summer research in Jakarta. I thank these institutions and individuals, especially the late Mr. Wasserman, to whom I failed to acknowledge my gratitude in a timely manner. Friends from the OSU helped my dissertation project greatly in its initial stage and thereafter. Dinna Wisnu, Yohanes Sulaiman, and Djayadi Hanan introduced me to their acquaintances and gave me a hand with the IRB procedure. Without friendship from Dinna and Yohanes, my survival in Jakarta would have been much more difficult. I also wish to express my gratitude to PSHK (The Indonesian Center for Law & Policy Studies) and Ery Nugroho, Paramadina University, and Choi Sang Bok for their willingness to sponsor my stay in Indonesia. I thank Marella Al Faton for research assistance and Rini Kusnadi for assistance, information, and extraordinary friendship. Lastly, my thanks to librarians at Komnas-HAM, DPR, and Elsam should not be omitted. I deeply thank everybody at IKOHI (Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared), where I spent most of my days in Jakarta. Wanma Yetti, Simon, and Mugiyanto supported my research with tremendous hospitality; Victor, Ari, Yasmin, Jejen, and Wilson were also always there for discussion and fact-checks. In Banda Aceh, those at Kontras Aceh, especially Fery Kusuma, Dody Sanjaya, and Asiah Uzia kindly extended help. I am also grateful to Poengky Indarti, Ester Jusuf, Papang Hidayat, Sentot Setyasiswanto, Hilmar Farid, Yati Andriyani, Roichatul Aswidah, Garda Sembiring, Bedjo Untung, and all anonymous interviewees for their generosity to share their time, information, and insights. v In May 2010, I participated in the 3rd Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights by the Asian International Justice Initiative. In addition to the knowledge on international humanitarian law and internal conflicts, I also gained lasting friendships through this wonderful seminar. Sabela and Mas Odis offered unforgettable help for my research by arranging interviews. Elizabeth “Izzy” Rhoads actually read my chapters and gave both encouragement and suggestions. In the past three years, I have been constantly moving from one city to another. In Jeonju, I thank faculty members and fellow students at the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy and the Social Science Research Institute of Chonbuk National University, where I wrote my dissertation prospectus. Director Kim Chang-hee kindly allowed me to stay there as a visiting researcher. In Kyoto, where I wrote most of my dissertation chapters, my gratitude goes to sensei-sensei at Center for Southeast Asian Studies of Kyoto University, especially Carol Hau, Kosuke Mizuno, and Hiromu Shimizu for generously allowing me to use the excellent facilities and to join the center activities as a visiting researcher. My warm gratitude also goes to Jafar Suryomenggolo for his friendship (or senpai-ship) and expertise with Indonesian names to be listed in the references. I presented different parts of my dissertation project or related works at 2010 ISA Annual Conference (New Orleans), 2010 Yale-Indonesia Forum (Diponegoro University, Semarang), 2010 Graduate Student Conference on Indonesia (Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta), 2011 MPSA Annual Meeting, “Localizing Global Justice” Workshop (November 2011, Weatherhead East Asia Institute, Columbia University), Comparative vi Politics Research Workshop at OSU (January 2012), and Special Seminar at CSEAS, Kyoto (June 2012). I sincerely thank coordinators, discussants, audiences and co- presenters at these conferences and workshops, and my friend Sung-Eun Park for providing me her floor in Manhattan. Moral support from friends has been critical throughout these years. I especially thank Yoonah Oh for her mentorship, Eunbin Chung for her care, Xiaoyu Pu for general tips and suggestions, JeeSeon Jeon for her curiosity about my dissertation, and Dahee Kim, with Hyeon Seok Park recently, for her very rich friendship. In every manner, I am privileged to have Seo Joong-seok and Min Hye-suk as my parents, with whom I grew up watching Missing and Romero as family movies. Thanks to them, I was also qualified as an Ikohi Korea member – or Ikohk? – when I was building the essential rapport with friends in Jakarta. My husband Je Seong Jeon has been there for me during most of the years of my graduate study. I visited Indonesia for the first time because he was there. He accompanied some of my interviews and asked key questions from his own fresh perspective. We share books and newspaper articles on Indonesia, mostly to my advantage. We talk about Indonesian politics when we have dinner.