Respect for human rights?<\/p>\n
Onghokham wrote in The Jakarta Post on Nov. 12 that reticence
\nin arresting Abu Bakar Ba'asyir was part of a trend to greater
\nrespect for human rights.<\/p>\n
I find this hard to believe after watching an episode of
\nPatrol, the crime news program on Indosiar.<\/p>\n
I noticed that police auxiliaries in West Jakarta were
\nthrowing suspected prostitutes into a truck. The evidence against
\nthem was that they were standing near the road where the officers
\nwere performing their \"human trash\" sweeping operation.<\/p>\n
The cameras then moved to Central Java, where police had
\narrested some suspected drug sellers. The suspects, half naked,
\nhobbled out of the police station with bruised and swollen faces.<\/p>\n
After this we saw a suspected thief who was not hobbling but
\nrather hopping on one leg. The reporter explained that to stop
\nhim running away the police had \"burned his foot with hot lead\",
\nmeaning they shot him.<\/p>\n
Unlike the secret taping of the removal of Ba'asyir from
\nhospital, all these stories were obviously filmed with the
\ncooperation of the police and both police and reporters seemed
\nproud of their actions.<\/p>\n
Several other TV channels have similar programs focussing on
\nself-righteous voyeurism, invasion of privacy, violation of the
\npresumption of innocence and the public humiliation of suspects
\nwho are denied access to lawyers and subjected to police
\ninterrogation under the glare of television lights.<\/p>\n
So I doubt that police caution and the outcry from some
\nquarters in the Ba'asyir case arise from consistent human rights
\nstandards. Rather they reflect Ba'asyir's higher status as a man
\nwith potentially violent followers and commodity value for
\npoliticians hoping to exploit sectarianism.<\/p>\n
JOHN HARGREAVES, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/respect-for-human-rights-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }