Assembly split on human rights charter issue

Assembly split on human rights charter issue

JAKARTA (JP): The campaign to establish a human rights charter
as a powerful decree of the People Consultative's Assembly (MPR)
faced further obstacles yesterday when the Armed Forces (ABRI)
faction followed Golkar's rejection of the notion.

The uphill campaign for deliberation of the charter now rests
on the minority United Development Party (PPP), which stated
yesterday that it would fight in favor of the charter.

The other tiny faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI),
had already showed reluctance to comment on the issue. It only
said yesterday that the party's central board of executives would
discuss the charter next week.

The draft of the human rights charter was proposed recently by
the National Defense and Security Council. The council suggested
on Tuesday that the People's Consultative Assembly deliberate on
an Indonesian bill of human rights and adopt it as one of its
decrees.

President Soeharto chairs the council whose members include
senior military officers and experts from various disciplines.

Senior legislator from the Armed Forces faction Maj. Gen. Hari
Sabarno said the faction did not consider such a decree necessary
because the State Policy Guidelines had already incorporated
human rights principles.

"We'd rather stress a consistent application of human rights
principles, instead of adopting a specific decree on them. I
believe that our state ideology Pancasila or some laws contain
the principles already," Hari said.

Hari chairs the ABRI faction at the House of Representatives
and is on the Assembly's working committee, whose job is to
prepare a draft of decrees to be endorsed when the Assembly
resumes its general session in March next year.

Hari said the ABRI faction appreciated the council's proposal,
but it could not treat it as more than just advice.

"The council is not an Assembly faction, and so far there has
been no faction which formally asked for deliberation on the
human rights charter," Hari said.

Secretary of Golkar faction at the Assembly, Ary Mardjono,
reiterated yesterday the party's policy not to include the issue
of a human rights charter in the agenda of the MPR working
committee.

PPP, however, took a different position yesterday. Legislator
Usamah Hisyam said his faction would fight it out for the
deliberation and adoption of the human rights bill as a decree of
the MPR.

"We'll go on with our earlier commitment to include the
deliberation on the human rights charter in future sessions of
the Assembly's working committee," Usamah said.

He said although principles on human rights protection were
already included in the state ideology and the 1945 Constitution,
it would be more effective if they were stipulated in a decree.

An Assembly ruling has higher status than laws and other
regulations according to Indonesia's legal hierarchy.

Usamah said PPP legislators were now lobbying their
counterparts from ABRI and PDI to change their minds and bring
the deliberation to the floor.

At the same time, he called on the people's moral and physical
support for the charter.

Separately, PDI secretary-general Buttu Hutapea said the party
was studying the bill of rights draft. "We will announce our
stance after a leadership meeting next Friday," said Buttu, who
chairs the party's tiny faction at the Assembly. (imn/amd)