A reminder worth noting

A reminder worth noting

When, in January 1994, the National Commission on Human
Rights (Komnas HAM) came into being, observers were quick to
question its independence while many activists chose to keep
their distance from the newly established organization. This was
understandable given the fact that the commission was established
by presidential decree and was led initially by Ali Said, a
retired, and since deceased, army general who was actively
involved in the trials by military tribunal of some of the most
prominent suspected actors in the September 1965 communist coup
and who was, perhaps for that reason, widely regarded to be close
to the ruling power elite, if not part of it.

But if doubts ever existed about the integrity and
independence of our National Commission on Human Rights, they
were quick to fade as, during various events that occurred in the
following months and years, the Commission proved itself to be
quite quick and vocal in denouncing what it saw as violations of
the basic rights of the common citizen in this country, though
obviously tact had to be exercised in conveying its messages to
the authorities and to the public.

Still, of all the Commission's appeals for a better
observation of the rights of the common people in Indonesia,
there is none that we can remember that equals in directness and
expansiveness the statement it issued earlier this week. The
Commission censured the government for its failure to resolve the
nation's most fundamental political problems -- including an
emasculate democracy that has failed to empower the people and
install checks on the government, crippled law enforcement due to
an irresponsive judiciary that favors those in power, and
intolerable social injustices.

"The economic and monetary crisis which is at present gripping
the nation has affected the whole perception of the national
development concept we have adhered to so far. The essential
national conditions that are needed to ensure a decent life, a
basic human right, continue to deteriorate," according to the
Commission. "At present, conditions have driven the people's
livelihoods to a high degree of uncertainty, and have now reached
a most alarming point. What gives reason for concern," the
statement said, "is that up to the present it remains unclear how
the government determines the basic policies that are aimed at
overcoming these dislocations." It noted that "disorder in the
areas of democracy, law enforcement and social justice are caused
by the defective operation of the legislatures, the law enforcing
agencies and the institutions for social control as well as the
rifeness of corruption and collusion in many fields".

One might perhaps ask why the National Commission on Human
Rights has deemed it prudent to concern itself with such problems
as economy and politics. The answer, of course, is that they have
a direct and profound impact on the well-being of the ordinary
citizen, which, as the Commission notes, is a most basic human
right. Our bitter experience of the past few months should be a
reminder that it is well worth the effort to win and maintain the
trust, confidence, and respect of the public, and that trust and
confidence, and of course respect, are things that have to be
earned.