LBH predicts rights record to worsen<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Human rights activists predicted yesterday that
\nIndonesia's human rights record and legal condition would see no
\nimprovement next year.<\/p>\n
\"As long as the law is still considered subordinate to the
\ngovernment's politics, as is the character of the New Order
\nregime, the situation will remain the same,\" said the Jakarta
\noffice of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) in its year-end
\nevaluation delivered by its director Apong Herlina here
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
\"And as long as human rights is still placed within the power
\nholders' framework of power, the list of human rights violations
\nwill be even longer next year,\" she said.<\/p>\n
This year's economic woes and next March's political power
\nstruggle would also color the country's legal and human rights
\nrecords, Apong said.<\/p>\n
The socioeconomic crisis, which she said \"can hardly be
\nhandled by the government\" as reflected by the rising price of
\nstaple food, could lead to increasing \"social pathology\".<\/p>\n
She said massive layoffs, land disputes, violence by legal
\napparatus, violations of people's freedom of expression and the
\nright to assemble, divorce and domestic violence, and sexual
\nviolence, were examples of the rising social pathology.<\/p>\n
\"Those issues will be rife next year, directly or indirectly
\ninfluenced by the country's socioeconomic and sociopolitical
\nconditions,\" she said.<\/p>\n
According to Apong, never before during the New Order era had
\nan economic crisis affected so many people, either from the lower
\nor the middle class.<\/p>\n
\"Unless the rising problems are tackled seriously and the law
\nis implemented justly, it is very possible that more social
\nupheavals will color the country's legal scene next year,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Concerning human rights violations, Apong said: \"It's very
\ndifficult to expect a decrease in the number of violations.\"<\/p>\n
She said the current political power, which tends to maintain
\nthe status quo, had \"repressed\" demands for change.<\/p>\n
Apong was accompanied yesterday by the institute's land
\ndivision head Dewi Novirianti, criminal division head Daniel
\nPanjaitan, and special division head Paulus Mahulette.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the past year's legal scene and human rights
\nrecords, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute said the number of
\ncomplaints it had received had increased from past years.<\/p>\n
This year alone, Apong said, the institute's criminal division
\nhad received 225 cases, labor division 280 cases, land division
\n114, and special division 529 cases.<\/p>\n
\"The increased number every year signifies that the institute
\nis still trusted and needed by the public,\" Apong said.<\/p>\n
The institute also noted the problems affecting workers here
\nand abroad. It cited the beheading of an Indonesian female worker
\nin Saudi Arabia, and reproached the government for being too slow
\nto respond to the case.<\/p>\n
\"The government has not been responsible enough for the fate
\nof its people when faced with such a serious situation,\" the
\ninstitute said.<\/p>\n
The public uproar over the execution, and the planned
\nbeheading of fellow worker Nasiroh, indicated the public's
\nincreasing legal awareness, the institute said.<\/p>\n
\"Public criticism and protest effectively pressured the
\ngovernment to take action (and save Nasiroh from the same fate),\"
\nit said. (aan)<\/p>",
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