Economic ills won't spark upheavals: Marzuki

JAKARTA (JP): Human rights campaigner Marzuki Darusman appeased yesterday concern that the current economic woes would force massive layoffs and subsequently cause social upheaval.

The deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights said he was confident Indonesia would be able to sail through the crisis as long as the public "sense of justice" was satisfied.

He described as normal the dire scenarios that people draw up in the face of such a crisis. Indonesians' habit of helping and relying on one another would help them overcome the crisis, he said.

He said one example was residents of Jakarta, where an individual supports the welfare of four to five people. He called this a one-per-five dependence rate.

"The predicted layoffs will reduce the rate to one-per-seven, which still will not lead people to riot," he said.

"Our people have a high ability to cope with hardship," he told the press on the sidelines of the Workshop III on Networking in Human Rights cosponsored by the rights commission, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

About 200 participants from the bureaucracy, non-governmental organizations, the media, intellectuals, diplomatic circles, and others are taking part in the three-day workshop opened by Vice President Try Sutrisno yesterday.

Marzuki was responding to questions about the increased number of unemployment brought about by the economic crisis.

Last month, deputy chairman of the Federation of All-Indonesia Workers Union (FSPSI) Bomer Pasaribu told The Jakarta Post that the impact of the monetary crisis -- which will lead to a decrease in purchasing power and a decline in production activities -- would force the dismissal of approximately 1.1 million workers in the formal business sector.

Marzuki conceded, however, that the newly unemployed would be vulnerable to social upheaval, especially rioting. The government needs to take efforts to ensure that the public feel that the current turmoil is shared by all.

"If people do not see that the current crisis is shared by all, their sense of justice will be 'offended'," Marzuki said.

Some people could be induced to riot should they lose hope in finding a way to overcome the hardship, he said.

He also admitted there was still a possibility that some people would reach a point where they were no longer able to cope with the crisis.

"But as long as prices are stable, and rice supply is still ample, we'll not reach that point. But isn't that the charm of politics, its very unpredictability?

"This is the point where we need our politicians to voice the people's aspirations, we need an openness in which politicians can articulate people's aspirations," he said.

On the other hand, he added, the political system should accommodate and tolerate different political views so that a process of "radicalization" does not take place.

"Even if it happens, it (radicalism) will only be temporary," he said.

He added that groups most vulnerable to human rights violations and the ensuing social upheavals were women, children and minority groups.

A non-governmental organization called on the People's Consultative Assembly to establish a special decree that will uphold the promotion of human rights.

"To refuse to acknowledge human rights (in the establishment of) an Assembly decree is tantamount to the denial of... human rights," the group said.

A delegation, led by Bambang Widjojanto and representing the legal aid and human rights protection institutes, met yesterday with the dominant Golkar faction in the Assembly to call for a separate decree on human rights.

Golkar was represented by Din Syamsuddin, Agung Laksono and Fahmi Idris.

The NGOs said in their joint statement that Indonesia is facing a serious problem concerning human rights. They said people have witnessed a series of human rights violations which included political violence and negligence of political and civil rights. (aan/10)