MPR decree on human rights a must<\/p>\n
Charles Himawan, a professor of law and economics at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia and a member of the National Human Rights
\nCommission joined the debate on whether there is a need for the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to produce a decree on human
\nrights.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It seems that some new members of the MPR still
\nmisunderstand the concept of human rights despite a recent
\nlecture given by some members of the National Human Rights
\nCommission at the Bogor Palace. The most serious misunderstanding
\nis that human rights is a purely Western imported concept.<\/p>\n
This misunderstanding is the result of the fact that in the
\nlast four decades, the United States was the first country to
\nrequire that human rights be taken into consideration in its
\ngoverning process.<\/p>\n
On the basis of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the
\nU.S. State Department is currently required to compile a report
\non the human rights situation in countries which receive
\nassistance from the United States government.<\/p>\n
In 1974, this obligation was expanded to include countries
\nwhich have been doing business with U.S. companies. Two years
\nlater, the U.S. Congress established a human rights coordinator
\nwithin the Department of State. In 1977, the status of this
\ncoordinator was elevated to become an assistant secretary of
\nstate. This is the very official who on occasion visits the human
\nrights commission to exchange views.<\/p>\n
Recently in their visit to Jakarta, both the British and
\nCanadian foreign ministers had had the opportunity to exchange
\nviews with the commission. Out of the dialogue it became apparent
\nthat they, along with other European Union countries, were
\nrequired by law to base their foreign policy on human rights.
\nThis has helped maintain the impression that human rights is
\npurely of Western origin.<\/p>\n
Human rights are rights attached to human being. Thomas
\nJefferson (1743-1826), whom the late president Sukarno admired,
\ncalled them \"inalienable rights\", rights which cannot be
\nalienated from a human being.<\/p>\n
Whether a man is an Indonesian, European, American or African,
\nhis \"inalienable rights\" are the same. The problem is in their
\nimplementation. This cannot possibly be the same everywhere,
\nbecause man lives in a different environment in terms of
\ngeography, society, politics, law and economics.<\/p>\n
Life in Indonesia, which has sea coasts of thousand of miles,
\nis certainly different from life in land-locked Austria. Thus,
\nthe observance of human rights in Indonesia is obviously
\ndifferent from that of Austria.<\/p>\n
Within the Indonesian geographical environment itself,
\nobservance of human rights in the arid land of East Timor is
\ncertainly different from the heavily forested land of Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
A Malaysian lives within a social structure which is different
\nfrom that of Europe. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad therefore
\nhas stated that the observance of human rights in Europe and in
\nMalaysia must, out of necessity, be different.<\/p>\n
American economic strength is different from that of
\nIndonesia, and therefore the implementation of human rights in
\nboth countries is also different.<\/p>\n
Since there are so many different factors which can affect the
\nimplementation of human rights, Jefferson preferred not to
\ninvolve himself with the problem.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's founding fathers, including Sukarno himself,
\nincorporated Jefferson's inalienable rights into the state
\nideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
Pancasila talks about social justice for all the people of
\nIndonesia. This certainly is aimed to provide a social platform
\nto enable Indonesians to pursue happiness. Jefferson also talked
\nabout the \"pursuit of happiness\". The 1945 Constitution talked
\nabout a \"right to life\" and Jefferson also talked about the
\n\"right to life\".<\/p>\n
Ideas like these which can be traced back to the noted 17th
\ncentury English political philosopher, John Locke, apparently
\nwere already \"Indonesianized\" by Indonesia's founding fathers
\nlonger than 50 years ago. Thus, human rights cannot be considered
\nan imported concept from the West.<\/p>\n
Aware of the importance of observing human rights at the turn
\nof the century, President Soeharto set up the human rights
\ncommission on June 7, 1993. His great concern is reflected from
\nthe fact that the establishment of the commission took place less
\nthan three months after the closing of the previous session of
\nthe MPR on March 11, 1993.<\/p>\n
After working for nearly four years, the commission feels that
\nthe concept of human rights is not sufficiently institutionalized
\nyet and social awareness on human rights is still extremely poor.<\/p>\n
It is perhaps in this context that the National Defense and
\nSecurity Council, chaired by President Soeharto himself, compiled
\na kind of MPR bill on human rights.<\/p>\n
At this stage, people can recall that even though Pancasila
\nhas legally been in existence since 1945, nevertheless in 1978
\nthe MPR issued the noted decree on the dissemination and
\nimplementation of Pancasila.<\/p>\n
Considering the global concern regarding human rights, an MPR
\ndecree on the subject would elevate the integrity of Indonesian
\ncitizens both in the international as well as the national
\ncommunity.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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