519 A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INDONESIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTION PLAN 1998-2020 Majda El Muhtaj Fakultas Ilmu Sosial Universitas Negeri Medan elmuhtaj.73@gmail.com ABSTRACT This article analyzes the emergence and development of the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) or Rencana Aksi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia (Ranham) during Indonesian Reform era, 1998-2020. Ranham is recognized as a national strategic policy document that describes and explains; 1) how the state incorporates human rights principles and norms into its policies, and 2) how to measure its remarkable achievements. All Indonesian governments have adopted and implemented Ranham, which was enacted by Presidential Regulations during fve phases in the two decades of the Reform era. Ranham was derived and mandated by the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action (VDPA) 1993. Up until recently, more than 70 states have formulated the Ranham, including Indonesia. This article discovers that the policy of Ranham during the Reform era refects the national commitment to the human rights agenda. However, the lack of the conceptualization of human rights still impedes the development and reinforcement of the national human rights system. Keywords: human rights; Ranham; VDPA. INTRODUCTION The fall of Soeharto on May 21, 1998 led to the accommodation of an effective political climate in adopting a new wave of democracy in Indonesia. 1 By capitalizing national reform (reformasi) agenda, 2 ‘the ‘newly born’ of Indonesian regimes declare that their governance is different from that of ‘the old’ Old Order (Orde Lama regime) and embody better electoral democracy and rule of law by upholding human rights. 3 However, what is incoherent, after more than two decades of reform, are today’s expectations still the same to that of launched in 1998? Tim Lindsey states that “the term is still used today, 20 years on, even though the spirit of radical reform that drove 1 The Fall of Soeharto, ed. by Geoff Forrester and R.J. May (Singapore: Select Books, 1999), pp. 1–2. 2 see People’s Consultative Assembly Decision Nomber X/MPR/1998 Concerning Outlines of Reformasi in Development in Oder to Saving and Normalization of National Life as State Direction. 3 Menimbang Demokrasi Dua Dekade Reformasi, ed. by Syamsuddin Haris (Jakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia, 2019), p. 7; See also Law No. 2 of 1999 Concerning General Election Indonesia carried out the frst election in era reformasi on 7 June 1999. democratization is now distant.” 4 In his second- term, President Joko Widodo has also continued Indonesian Ranham 2021-2025 as a ffth phase. 5 Therefore, the term post-reform is currently used to indicate a robust inclination to assess the reinforcement of the national human rights system, while this condition today, as Lindsey said, is uncertain. 6 The establishment of reform era since 1998 has endorsed the remarkable efforts to be able to conduct total reform (reformasi total) 7 movement within the direction of national developmental system including the embodiment of human rights. 8 The emergence of the frst National Human 4 Tim Lindsey, “Post-Reformasi Indonesia: The Age of Uncertainty,” The University of Melbourne <https:// indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/post-reformasi- indonesia-the-age-of-uncertainty/> [accessed 14 October 2022]. 5 See Presidential Regulation Number 53 of 2021 Concerning the National Action Plan for Human Rights 2021 - 2025. 6 Lindsey. 7 Kevin O’Rourke, Reformasi: The Struggle for Power in Post-Soeharto Indonesia (NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2002), p. 146. 8 see People’s Consultative Assembly Decision Namber XVII/MPR/1998 Concerning Human Rights DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30641/ham.2022.13.519-538 Submitted: 17-10-2022; Revised: 16-11-2022; Accepted: 05-12-2022 This paper is published under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License