Centre for Applied Human Rights
Ignatius Mahendra Kusumawardhana
Indonesia, CAHR, Autumn 2008
My name is Ignatius Mahendra Kusumawardhana. I was born in 1982 in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. At the age of 16, I joined the high school student movement which was attempting to overthrow the military regime led by Soeharto. I became the Coordinator of the Education and Propaganda Division of the Revolutionary High School Student Movement (Gerakan Pelajar Revolusioner-Gelar). When I graduated from high school I was active in the National Student League for Democracy (Liga Mahasiswa Nasional untuk Demokrasi-LMND). My first position was Head of the Executive Commissariat of LMND University of Sanata Dharma. In 2002 I became the Head of the Regional Executive of LMND Yogyakarta.
In 2003, after leading a rally to reject the government policy to increase fuel prices, I was arrested. After a trial lasting three months, I was sentenced to three years imprisonment for insulting the Government. In the middle of the trial my lawyers backed away from my case due to intense pressure and intimidation from Government supporters and the unfair nature of the trial.
In the middle of the trial my lawyers backed away from my case due to intense pressure and intimidation from Government supporters and the unfair nature of the trial.
While in prison, I actively campaigned with Amnesty International for other Prisoners of Conscience (POC). I smuggled letters of support for other POCs into the prison. I was also active in organizing protests inside the prison to demand better conditions. Because of that activity I was often threatened and abused by the prison officers.
On my release on 17 August 2005, the first thing I did was to lead another rally just outside the prison walls, demanding that the Indonesian government stop arresting activists and change the laws allowing it to arrest anyone who disagree with them.
After I was released from prison, I was not allowed to return to university. After some time, I received an offer that would allow me to continue my studies, with the promise of a job after graduation. The condition was that I was to stop all political activity. I refused.
In 2006 I built a new democratic national student organization called the Student Movement Network. I became the National Coordinator. With my colleague, I wrote a book entitled Bergerak Bersama Rakyat: Sejarah Gerakan Mahasiswa dan Perubahan Sosial di Indonesia (Movement with the People: the History of Student Movement and Social Changes in Indonesia). In the year 2007 I joined the Working People’s Association (Perhimpunan Rakyat Pekerja-PRP) and became the City Secretary of PRP Yogyakarta.
After 5 years of being unable to continue my studies, I was nominated by Amnesty International to study in the Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR) at the University of York. For me this is an open door to study new concepts of human rights that can be applied in the ongoing struggle for human rights in Indonesia. I have already learned many things: the debates surrounding the human rights movement, how international laws and institutions work to protect human rights, and the relationship with development and transitional justice. With the transition period in Indonesia after the military regime, learning human rights is more important than ever. With this I hope my nation can set a standard for the future of human rights in Indonesia, and bring justice for past human rights violations
Success Story
Along with my trade union, we have set up a monitoring programme that focuses on the economic and social rights of workers, in particular the right to form a union and health and safety in the workplace. I am also developing a human rights curriculum for high school stucents, which I started while in York. (Mahendra, July 2009.)