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)