Labeling of 32 NGOs as 'problematic' criticized<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A senior lawyer criticized the government
\nyesterday for labeling 32 non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
\nas \"problematic.\"<\/p>\n
Luhut Pangaribuan, director of the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nInstitute, said in a workshop on human rights that only the court
\nof law has the authority to legally determine whether an
\norganization is \"problematic\".<\/p>\n
\"It's an exercise of intimidation, either direct or indirect,
\nby the government against the NGOs,\" Luhut said. \"To my opinion,
\nthere is nothing wrong with what the NGOs have done.\"<\/p>\n
Luhut was presenting his paper on NGO involvement in promoting
\nhuman rights during the third day of the workshop jointly
\norganized by the National Commission on Human Rights and the
\nRaoul Wellenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
\nof Sweden.<\/p>\n
The government said last month that the 32 NGOs had failed to
\ndesignate Pancasila as their operating principle and that they
\nwere engaged in illegal activities. The attorney general will
\nstart questioning leaders of the NGOs next week.<\/p>\n
\"It seems like that the government is trying to depoliticize
\nNGOs,\" said Luhut.<\/p>\n
He said he regrets that relationships between the government
\nand NGOs are deteriorating. \"A sympathetic approach was taken by
\nthe government in the past when Minister of Home Affairs Rudini
\ninitiated regular dialogs with NGOs,\" Luhut said.<\/p>\n
Luhut also explained why some NGOs are opposed to a 1985 law
\non mass organizations, saying that they have instead opted to
\nwork under the banner of foundations.<\/p>\n
\"They (NGOs) abide by their own rules instead of the law on
\nmass organizations,\" he said. \"The use of state power to treat
\nNGOs the same as mass organizations is an arbitrary act,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Luhut said that NGOs have campaigned relentlessly since the
\n1970s for the protection of human rights, despite the fact that
\ntheir activities have sparked controversy.<\/p>\n
\"The positive roles of NGOs can be seen in the frequent use of
\nthe words 'human rights' nowadays which in the past might be
\nlinked with communism,\" Luhut said.<\/p>\n
NGOs also played a major role in helping the government draw
\nup the criminal code procedures, according to Luhut, who hailed
\nthe work as \"a masterpiece\" for containing the universal human
\nrights declared by the United Nations 48 years ago.<\/p>\n
\"It is wrong, therefore, to believe that human rights have
\ntheir origins in Western culture,\" Luhut said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has yet to ratify the 1948 Universal Declaration of
\nHuman Rights.<\/p>\n
However, Luhut said that there have been many loopholes and
\ninconsistencies found in the criminal code procedures since they
\nwent into effect.<\/p>\n
\"The codes do not include a clause giving a judge the right to
\nrule out dossiers agreed by defendants after the use of force,\"
\nLuhut said as an example. (amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/labeling-of-32-ngos-as-problematic-criticized-1447893297",
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