DPR Deputy Chair: Labelling Free Nutritious Meal Programme a Human Rights Violation is Inaccurate

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Chair of Commission XIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Sugiat Santoso, has deemed the statement by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) alleging indications of human rights violations in the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme as inaccurate. According to him, the MBG programme is instead a tangible form of fulfilling the basic rights of the community, which are part of human rights, particularly economic and social rights. “The statement by Komnas HAM that human rights violations have occurred in the implementation of the MBG programme is a contradictory statement when viewed from a human rights perspective,” Sugiat said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday. He stated that the programme is a concrete manifestation of the fulfilment of human rights, encompassing the right to adequate food, the right to be free from hunger, the right to improve living standards, the right to the fulfilment of basic needs, the right to grow and develop properly, and the right to an improved quality of life. According to him, the fulfilment of the right to food and the right to be free from hunger cannot be optimally realised without state involvement. Therefore, he considers it inappropriate to directly conclude that the implementation of the MBG programme constitutes a human rights violation. Sugiat did not deny that the implementation of the MBG programme still has a number of shortcomings that need to be rectified. However, governance issues and irregularities in implementation cannot automatically be categorised as human rights violations. “The fact that the governance of the MBG programme is indeed not yet perfect, that there are irregularities, and that it needs improvement, does not make it appropriate to conclude that a human rights violation has occurred,” he said. According to him, an assessment of human rights violations should be conducted through a monitoring function involving a thorough investigation and examination of an event. “Programmes like MBG in various countries are a state obligation to strive for the fulfilment of the right to food for its citizens, certainly not a human rights violation,” Sugiat said.