Rights campaigner Nasution elected as member of ICJ<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Prominent human rights campaigner Adnan Buyung
\nNasution has been chosen by the International Commission of
\nJurists (ICJ) to sit as the newest member of the Geneva-based
\norganization.<\/p>\n
Adnan, 62, is well known here for his activities both as a
\nlegal practitioner and for being a strong advocate of human
\nrights through the establishment of the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nFoundation (YLBHI).<\/p>\n
He is also known as a vocal critic of government policies.<\/p>\n
Adnan Buyung has acted as legal counsel in a number of high-
\nprofile political and human rights cases, such as defending
\nsacked legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas against defamation
\ncharges towards President Soeharto and the suit filed by former
\nemployees of the banned Tempo magazine against the Ministry of
\nInformation.<\/p>\n
His selection was announced yesterday by the ICJ along with
\nthat of the other three new members: Elisabeth Odio Benito from
\nCosta Rica, Yozo Yokota from Japan and Pedro Nikken of Venezuela.<\/p>\n
Since 1994, Benito has sat as a judge at the International
\nCriminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Yokota is a law
\nprofessor at the University of Tokyo and United Nations Special
\nRapporteur on Myanmar, while Nikken is a former judge of the
\nInter-American Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n
The ICJ was founded in 1952 as a non-governmental organization
\nwith the aim of working towards the full observance of the United
\nNations Declaration of Human Rights and to defend the Rule of Law
\nthroughout the world.<\/p>\n
It is in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social
\nCouncil (UNESCO) along with other international organizations
\nsuch as the Organization of African Unity and the Council of
\nEurope.<\/p>\n
The ICJ has a maximum of 45 international jurists and composed
\nof 78 national sections and affiliated organizations.<\/p>\n
Adnan Buyung's admission into the Commission was conducted
\nunder secret ballot by all members of the Commission. The
\nCommission is the directive authority of ICJ.<\/p>\n
He had previously sat as an alternate member at the ICJ in
\n1980.<\/p>\n
He began his legal career at the Attorney General's office in
\nthe 1950s before holding down a seat at the provisional People's
\nConsultative Assembly between 1966 to 1968.<\/p>\n
In 1992 Adnan Buyung completed his doctorate thesis on \"The
\nAspirations for the Constitutional Government: A Sociological
\nStudy of the Indonesian Konstituante 1956-1959\". (mds)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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