Election in Indonesia, with reminders of ugly past

A former Human Rights First award-winner, wife of slain Indonesian activist Munir Said Thalib, co-wrote a compelling op-ed in the Jakarta Post calling for a reckoning with Indonesia’s past, and justice for its many abuses.

Today is election day in Indonesia, and as results come in, this op-ed looks beyond those results to what it means that two of the vice-presidential candidates have been broadly and credibly reported to be implicated in human rights violations in the past.

The elected leaders have a lot to do to restore the rule of law in Indonesia and this opinion piece reminds us that to move forward, an accounting of the past will be necessary.