American scholar defends NGOs' rights roles<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An American academic exalted yesterday the role
\nof Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and defended the right
\nto criticize governments which violated human rights.<\/p>\n
Theodore S. Orlin, a professor of political science and
\ncriminal justice at Syracuse University, New York, said NGOs were
\nimportant for the protection and promotion of rights, as a public
\nmeans of ensuring that governments observed civil and political
\nrights.<\/p>\n
\"This is not anti-state, this is pro-state,\" Orlin said of the
\nactivities of rights groups, adding that a true patriot was
\nsomeone who insisted that the state obey the law just like an
\nordinary citizen.<\/p>\n
Apart from being co-director of the Human Rights Advocacy
\nProject at Utica College, Syracuse, Orlin has worked extensively
\ncounseling NGOs in Eastern European countries, such as Rumania
\nand Albania.<\/p>\n
In 1993, he worked as an advisor to Cameroon's Commission on
\nHuman Rights.<\/p>\n
Orlin is currently on a tour of several Asian countries to
\ngather information and share experiences regarding the role of
\nNGOs.<\/p>\n
Speaking here at the United States Commercial and Information
\nCenter yesterday, Orlin said that the number of NGOs in a country
\nwas \"a test of the diversity, plurality of any system.\"<\/p>\n
There are between 7,000 and 8,000 NGOs in Indonesia, concerned
\nwith a wide range of issues. This compares with an estimated 1.14
\nmillion NGOs in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Orlin said the current number of Indonesian NGOs represented
\nonly the beginning.<\/p>\n
The government has, in the past, been antagonistic to the
\nexistence of several NGOs, often suspending or prohibiting their
\nmeetings.<\/p>\n
At a gathering of Indonesian ambassadors here last year,
\nCoordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo
\nSoedarman said that the activities of many NGO were inconsistent
\nwith the achievement of an integrated society and a unified
\nnation.<\/p>\n
Soesilo argued that, because of their dependence on foreign
\nsponsorship, NGOs were inclined to forsake the concerns of a
\nharmonious state.<\/p>\n
Recently, however, the government has seemed to indicate a
\nshift in attitude, with Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen
\nWiranto describing NGOs as good partners of the government,
\nrather than \"trouble-makers\".<\/p>\n
Orlin said yesterday that it was up to the NGOs to make
\nrespect for human rights a reality.<\/p>\n
He said governments which signed international rights
\ntreaties, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
\nthe United Nations Charter, were legally committed to adhering to
\nhuman rights principles.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is a signatory to both treaties.<\/p>\n
Orlin said that if a state violated its commitments under
\ninternational rights treaties, NGOs had a right to remind them of
\nthe fact.<\/p>\n
\"What good is a state that doesn't live up to its contracts?\"
\nhe asked, adding that \"you can't have democracy without human
\nrights.\"<\/p>\n
In their efforts to uphold human rights, Orlin said NGOs
\nshould use the international rights treaties to cajole
\ngovernments into respecting human rights.<\/p>\n
\"The more treaties, the easier the job is for human rights
\ngroups and human rights commissions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
With the world's increasingly sophisticated communications
\nnetwork, he said, it was becoming increasingly difficult for
\ngovernments to conceal their neglect of human rights.<\/p>\n
The advent of facsimile machines and computer communication
\nnetworks, originally developed for business purposes, made it
\neasy for people to draw global attention to domestic issues, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"If you're going to do business, people are going to know
\nabout your civil society,\" he remarked.<\/p>\n
Regarding the soon-to-be-announced UN decade of human rights
\neducation, Orlin said it was the public, through the various
\nNGOs, who would be in the forefront of the campaign.<\/p>\n
If a democracy is going to exist, the public must be aware of
\ntheir rights,\" he said. (mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/american-scholar-defends-ngos-rights-roles-1447893297",
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