Alatas, Latief hail rights commission<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and
\nMinister of Manpower Abdul Latief say they rely on the support of
\nNational Commission on Human Rights in their respective cabinet
\njobs.<\/p>\n
In further testimony to the commission's prominence, the two
\nministers attended the third anniversary celebration of Komnas
\nHAM, the Indonesian acronym for the commission, at its small
\noffice in Menteng.<\/p>\n
Alatas said the commission has contributed to Indonesia's
\ndiplomatic efforts at a crucial time when the country has come
\nunder criticism on human rights issues.<\/p>\n
"In some cases, the national commission lent its helping hand
\nwhen we wanted to approach the United Nations Commission on Human
\nRights. This kind of cooperation is useful," he said.<\/p>\n
Alatas also credited the commission with increasing public
\nawareness of human rights. "In a relatively short time, the
\ncommission has proven to be an institution which manages to carry
\nout its mission as expected," Alatas said.<\/p>\n
"It's an impressive performance learning that the commission
\nis only three years old," he added.<\/p>\n
Although labor cases rank high among reports of rights
\nviolations received by the commission, the minister of manpower
\njoined in the toast to the human rights commission.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the commission's help, Latief said he could identify
\nlabor disputes more quickly.<\/p>\n
"There has been a well-knit partnership between us, in a sense
\nthat we always pay full attention to recommendations brought
\nforward by the commission," he said.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Manpower and the human rights commission have
\nset up a hotline for dealing with labor disputes, he said.<\/p>\n
Since January, the commission has dealt with 147 labor
\nconflicts.<\/p>\n
Land disputes are the primary grievance, with 301 cases having
\nbeen brought to the attention of the commission, followed by
\nallegations of wrongdoing by government officials, with 186
\ncases.<\/p>\n
Alatas said Indonesia will soon ratify a number of
\ninternational covenants on human rights. "The small number of
\ncovenants we have accepted is a legacy from the past. But we want
\nto make it up," he said.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will now endorse Indonesia's
\nratification of the two most important human rights documents,
\nthe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
\nInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
\nAlatas said.<\/p>\n
Alatas explained why Indonesia has so far been reluctant to
\nratify these pillars of human rights protection. "There are many
\nproblems toward adopting those conventions. Many countries,
\nincluding the United States, have not ratified the covenant on
\ncivil and political rights."<\/p>\n
The covenant on civil and political rights obliges its
\nsignatory nations to let the UN Human Rights Commission intervene
\ntheir internal human right disputes.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has ratified three of 25 international conventions
\non human rights. Those are conventions on the right of the child,
\non the elimination of all forms of discriminations against women
\nand on the political rights of women. (amd\/imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/alatas-latief-hail-rights-commission-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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