Myanmar Accountability Project Petitions for Removal of Restrictive “Citizens Only” Provision in Human Rights Court Law

The petition for a judicial review of the Human Rights Court Law in Indonesia, filed by Busyro Muqoddas, Marzuki Darusman, and Independent Journalist Alliance, sought to remove the phrase “by Indonesian citizens” as it was deemed unconstitutional and went against the principle of universality in the constitution. The appeal was initiated by Indonesian human rights activists and the Myanmar Accountability Project, with the aim of finding a way to prosecute those who have committed gross human rights violations against Rohingya. Marzuki, who was appointed by the United Nations to head the fact-finding mission in Myanmar, has been exploring ways to establish a national court that can carry out the function of an international court for the Myanmar case. Although the Constitutional Court ruled against the petition, Marzuki remains committed and is looking for another way to file the petition. The removal of the phrase would enable an Indonesian court to prosecute non-Indonesians for human rights violations, paving the way for local judiciary to accept such cases. The fact-finding team recommended prosecution through three gates; the ICC, a special international court, and an international court in a country, but there has been no progress yet.