Alumni call on YLBHI to renew mission

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.