NGOs' experience could help the state<\/p>\n
A national workshop on human rights has been held this week.
\nNGO activist Aswab Mahasin looks at the significance of the
\ngathering.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It is a good political gesture that the
\nPresident himself opened the Second National Workshop on Human
\nRights this week. The president also suggested that the National
\nCommission on Human Rights, established early this year, should
\nbe supported so that it may function properly.<\/p>\n
Another good sign is the acknowledgement that external
\ninfluences are not necessarily bad, a fact which is self-evident
\nfrom our history and which shows our ability to absorb other
\ninfluences from world civilizations.<\/p>\n
This indicates a more open-minded attitude towards human
\nrights which, up until now, has had the stigma of \"western
\nindividualism\" or something which is alien to our native
\nunderstanding of communal harmony and cooperation.<\/p>\n
These two opposing opinions -- the native and the foreign,
\nEast and West -- have haunted public discourse in our search for
\na genuine Indonesian identity for decades. In the 1930s there was
\na lengthy polemic on modern Indonesian culture, which pit the
\n\"high moral values\" of the East against the idea of progress with
\nits notions of rationalism, individualism and modern science. In
\nthe 1950s a group of writers and poets declared themselves
\nchildren of world civilization open to world ideas, yet remaining
\nIndonesian in identity. In the 1960s president Sukarno urged the
\nnation to return to the true Indonesian identity, ridiculing
\nwestern pop music in favor of Guided Democracy based on
\n\"indigenous\" cultural heritage. In the 1970s there was another
\npolemic over modernization and westernization, along with
\ndiscussions on cultural impediments to development.<\/p>\n
Naturally, the debate on human rights has also been influenced
\nby the dichotomous myth. When drafting the 1945 Constitution, the
\nprominent lawyer Soepomo had an argument with the foremost
\nnationalist leader Mohammad Hatta who had proposed some kind of
\nconstitutional guarantee for freedom of association and
\nexpression. Soepomo argued that such a guarantee of \"basic
\nrights\" is typical of an individualistic concept of politics. Our
\nidea of state, on the other hand, is \"integralistic\", where there
\nwill never be any conflict between the state and the individual.
\nAs Soepomo and his idea of the integralistic state has been
\nofficially revitalized recently (perhaps to replace Sukarno's
\nrevolutionary ideas), one may imagine the fate of human rights
\nunder such a conception of the state.<\/p>\n
New hope<\/p>\n
But a new hope seems to be dawning with the President's latest
\ngesture. And much of the new hope lies with the National
\nCommission on Human Rights. However, the question is: Can such an
\nadvisory commission shape policies? Will it be effective and
\ninstrumental for image building? Only time has the answers, as
\none year is too short a period to evaluate its performance.<\/p>\n
Another question revolves around the absence of
\nrepresentatives from human rights NGOs in the workshop. We are
\ntold that the reason is purely technical. This is unfortunate, as
\nthe presence of human rights NGOs would improve the image of such
\na workshop.<\/p>\n
The familiarity of NGO's with communities may enrich
\nparticipants with information based on real cases of human
\nrights. And the fact that some of them have been engaged in
\narticulating such interests may justify their representation.
\nTheir credibility is further enhanced by their independent
\nposition, their autonomy and sincere dedication to the plight of
\nthe underprivileged.<\/p>\n
They are indeed critical and if it comes to human rights
\nviolations many of them dare to take risks. This does not mean
\nthat their purpose is political campaigning against the
\ngovernment. Being realistic, none of them would involve
\nthemselves in such an endeavor. On sensitive issues like East
\nTimor, many of them would avoid slippery discussion. Many would
\ndefine this as an issue of international law, which is beyond
\ntheir reach. However, many would speak up when it comes to such
\nissues as the plight of the weak, missing persons, unlawful
\ndetention, defending a defendant in court. All of these are more
\nmoral or legal in nature than political and they know the limit.<\/p>\n
If such human rights NGOs are denied of meaningful
\nparticipation in a national human rights workshop, then one may
\nwonder what the workshop is all about. It would be no wonder if
\nthe media were to come up with even more intriguing questions.<\/p>\n
The writer is a jurist by training and an NGO activist.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ngos-experience-could-help-the-state-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }