Alumni call on YLBHI to renew mission

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Some former leading lights from the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) have deemed that the organization will be unable to safeguard its future unless it finds a new role for itself in the current era of reform.

Lawyer Luhut MP Pangaribuan, a patron of the Indonesian Advocates Association (APHI), said most of YLBHI's functions since its establishment in 1970 had been taken over by a number of watchdogs and political parties.

Besides offering legal advocacy, YLBHI became the most respected watchdog in the country for its unstinting efforts to promote human rights and democracy and to provide political education for the public at large.

"In the early years of the New Order regime, YLBHI alone stood up for democracy. But now, with the existence of many similar non-governmental and political parties that provide political education to the public, YLBHI must reinvent itself so that it can stand tall again in the crowd," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Luhut's juniors, Teten Masduki and Bambang Widjojanto, agreed, suggesting that YLBHI empower its 14 regional offices.

Bambang Widjojanto, who was dismissed as YLBHI director by the board of trustees last year for trying to reform the organization, argued that local offices were the focal points of the organization and played a crucial role in people empowerment.

"It would be disconcerting in this era of decentralization if YLBHI continued to ignore the problems facing the local offices but still based its reputation on the work of local offices," he told the Post.

On Tuesday, the 24 members of the foundation's supervisory board, chaired by Adnan Buyung Nasution, with cofounders and several prominent figures, including media people, elected head of YLBHI's civil and political division Munarman as the organization's new director.

The supervisory board, as the original board of trustees is now called, holds the ultimate authority.

In a public debate, Munarman pledged to continue the work of his seniors and to devolve authority to the local offices. He also promised that in the five years of his tenure there would be a regeneration and education program for all members.

Although the patrons decided to return YLBHI to its original mission by focusing on legal advocacy, Munarman, an outspoken critic of Adnan declared YLBHI should continue in its role of proposing alternatives to government policy.

Currently a member of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), Bambang questioned YLBHI's stance in this era of transition, in which public demands for resolution of the political and human rights abuses allegedly committed by the state in the past were growing stronger.

"How can YLBHI deal with past human rights crimes when its executives become the advocates of military officers implicated in human rights violations?

"Moreover, will YLBHI get involved in the current struggle over, for example, the Constitution, the law on political parties, or limiting the power of the military? Without formulating a clear policy, YLBHI will simply become an outdated organization."

Luhut, who was with YLBHI for 18 years, once chaired its Jakarta office and was appointed as YLBHI secretary, said if YLBHI decided to focus on law enforcement, it should also propose fundamental changes to the country's corrupt judiciary and unjust legal system.

Currently coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), Teten highlighted the internal conflict that had led to a major loss of YLBHI's most talented members.

Such a conflict surfaces every four years after the election of the new YLBHI director, ending up with the losing contender walking out of the organization.

"Such a state of affairs is a direct result of the election mechanism, which limits voting rights only to members of the board of trustees. Attempts to seek electoral support can cause irreversible damage to friendships," he remarked.