Rights activist keeps fighting<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
Deddy Prihambudi, the chairman of the Surabaya Legal Aid
\nInstitute, who usually speaks in an explosive manner, was, for a
\nmoment, unusually quiet.<\/p>\n
\"Human rights are certainly a complicated problem in Indonesia
\nand the government is still ambivalent about them,\" Jember, East
\nJava-born Deddy, knitting his brow and closing his eyes, told The
\nJakarta Post in Surabaya recently.<\/p>\n
Although he feels reluctant to be dubbed a human rights
\nfighter, Deddy is inseparable from the history of the struggle
\nfor human rights in East Java. He has been involved in the
\nstruggle since he was a law student at Brawijaya University in
\nMalang, East Java, in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
Along with his peers and his seniors, including the late
\nMunir, Deddy participated in a lot of discussions on problems
\nrelating to human rights and the law, which were often violated
\nduring the New Order era.<\/p>\n
\"The social upheaval in land issues involving the Nipah
\ncommunity in Madura is always fresh in my mind. That was a major
\ncase that I handled before I became a lawyer,\" he told the Post,
\nreminiscing.<\/p>\n
In the 1990s, tall, well-built Deddy, who had just graduated
\nfrom law school, joined the Malang chapter of the Surabaya Legal
\nAid Institute as a volunteer, along with the late Munir.<\/p>\n
That marked the beginning of his passion for the struggle for
\nthe enforcement of the law and the upholding of human rights; it
\nalso got him involved further in the activities of the Surabaya
\nLegal Aid Institute.<\/p>\n
Deddy became more prominent in the fight for human rights
\nfollowing the tragic death of Marsinah, a labor activist who lost
\nher life in Sidoarjo, East Java in 2002.<\/p>\n
Together with the late Munir, Deddy investigated the case,
\nwhich has remained a symbol of labor struggle in Indonesia. \"We
\nsecretly tried to find out in Sidoarjo what had actually happened
\nto Marsinah,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In those days, terror and threats were commonplace, especially
\nwhen the findings of the Surabaya Legal Aid Institute
\nincreasingly implicated security officials in Marsinah's case.<\/p>\n
\"I was threatened numerous times,\" he said. Marsinah's case
\nhas yet to be resolved. It is something for the Indonesian people
\nto think about. Even though the evidence is very clear, the case
\nhas yet to be dealt with properly,\" he said, in serious tones.<\/p>\n
'Not much has changed'<\/p>\n
Following the attack on the offices of the central executive
\nboard of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in 1996, many
\nstudent activists were kidnapped. The Surabaya Legal Aid
\nInstitute responded to this situation and Deddy became a member
\nof the legal defense team set up to help the student activists.<\/p>\n
They were unable to help them, and many were later
\nincarcerated.<\/p>\n
Still, Deddy gained greater popularity and was entrusted with
\nthe directorship of the Surabaya Legal Aid Institute, a position
\nthat he has held for two terms, from 2001 to 2003 and from 2003
\nto the present day.<\/p>\n
For Deddy, a devout Muslim, the collapse of Soeharto's New
\nOrder did not herald much change in the country's human rights
\nclimate.<\/p>\n
\"In the Soeharto era, the government often used the military
\nto violate human rights but today we see violations of human
\nrights by civil society and the military acting together,\" he
\nnoted.<\/p>\n
Small social groups, he said, were increasingly violating
\nhuman rights. \"In the case of heresy, for example, the public can
\nopenly take the law into their own hands against perceived
\nperpetrators while civilian law enforcers, such as the police,
\nprosecutors and the judiciary, seem powerless to do anything,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, reports have been submitted to the Surabaya Legal
\nAid Institute to the effect that military groups at the
\nterritorial levels such as Babinsa (noncommissioned officers for
\nvillage control) and Koramil (the military command at the
\ndistrict level) have taken over the role of the police.<\/p>\n
\"There have already been instances where Babinsa and Koramil
\nofficers, for example, inquired about licensing. Have they ever
\nbeen assigned a responsibility like this before?\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, the condition is not much different.<\/p>\n
Although President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appears to welcome
\nthe movement to uphold human rights, other groups do not want to
\nsee human rights properly exercised in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Deddy took as an example the murder of human rights activist
\nMunir. \"The dialog between the fact-finding team for Munir's case
\nand the President has been illuminating, and the President has
\neven issued a decree on the matter.<\/p>\n
\"Ironically, the decree seems to have had no effect on several
\nhigh-ranking military officers. This is really an undesirable
\nstate of affairs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The President is being held hostage by the actions of just a
\nfew people,\" he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rights-activist-keeps-fighting-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}