'Excesses lead to violations'

'Excesses lead to violations'

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said yesterday that human
rights violations occur as the result of excesses happening in
relation to the nation's development.

"In the process of development, the violation of human rights
could happen, but this is more the result of excesses," the
President said during his opening address for the Second National
Workshop on Human Rights.

The goal of development is to enhance the dignity of man,
which is closely related to the efforts of advancing and
protecting human rights.

Soeharto said Indonesia does not have to reject the beneficial
values originating from outside of the country.

"As an archipelagic nation set in a strategic geographical
location we are by nature an open nation and isolation is not
possible," he said.

As a member of the United Nations, Indonesia has the
obligation to review the world body's conventions on human rights
and to ratify those which are in line with the state ideology, he
told the 270 workshop participants at the State Palace.

Vice President Try Sutrisno and Foreign Minister Ali Alatas
also attended the opening.

In a similar tone, Alatas acknowledged that human rights
violations still exist in Indonesia, but stressed that they are
in no way in line with government policy.

"We admit that human rights violations still exist, but they
are incidental in character and are aberrations, not a part of
the national policy," he said in his address for the three-day
workshop at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Every nation is plagued with this problem, he said.

He expressed regret that not every nation is under attack by
non-governmental organizations. He singled out the London-based
Amnesty International as an example.

Dialog

Alatas said that the agency recently launched a political
campaign on Indonesia using human rights as a pretext.

"If it wants to see progress of human rights in Indonesia and
hold a dialog rather than heaping charges, it would not be a
wrong move because we are also for the improvement of the
protection of human rights," Alatas said.

"But if the agency's secretary-general himself says that he
will campaign only against Indonesia and links the violations to
the political structure in the country and to its position in
APEC and the Non-Aligned Movement, this should be stopped," he
said.

"We are left with unanswered questions as to why the Amnesty
has been so determined to single out Indonesia for years. This is
something that we are forced to counter as it is unfair treatment
which is not in line with human rights," he said.

The workshop is being held in follow-up to the First National
Workshop on Human Rights held from Jan. 19 to Jan. 21, 1991. It
focuses on issues relating to ratification of international
instruments on human rights, dissemination of information and
education on human rights and priority issues, such as priorities
in the implementation of human rights, poverty alleviation and
assistance of groups vulnerable to human rights violations.

"The workshop will not deal with controversial issues like
whether or not human rights have universal values or not. We are
aiming for more concrete results," he told reporters after the
opening session.

Values

In the opening session Alatas dismissed as baseless charges
that Asian countries do not recognize the universal values of
human rights.

There have been charges that ASEAN is developing its own
concept of the so-called "cultural relativism," he said.

"And as in international fora, discussions about human rights
are also being politicized," he told participants comprising
government officials, members of the Armed Forces, intellectuals,
members of the National Commission on Human Rights, politicians
and NGO representatives.

Alatas said that a relatively easier method to avoid this
confusion is to look back at the UN charter in which
international cooperation has been worked out. The presumption is
that cooperation between two parties can work only if both
parties have equal status, he said.

Alatas also said that Indonesia believes that there has never
been a problem between human rights and development.

"We believe that man is the central point in development.
Hence if development is a success most of the goals to protect
human rights will accordingly be achieved," he said.

Alatas lamented the fact that advanced countries continue to
link human rights and economic sanctions.

"This is an asymmetric conditionality since no country argues
otherwise; that is, a country plagued with a development crisis
may delay its human rights protection," he said.

He said advanced countries did not encounter difficulties in
forcing their will on Latin American or on African countries, but
only in relation to ASEAN countries.

"But we don't oppose for the sake of opposing them. We believe
that ... is counterproductive for both parties," he said.

A number of speakers, including Dr. John Pace from the United
Nations' Human Rights Center, Dr. Muladi from the National
Commission on Human Rights, Dr. Saparinah Sadli of the University
of Indonesia, Dr. Nurcholis Madjid of the National Commission on
Human Rights and Jakob Oetama of the Kompas daily are scheduled
to present their papers in today's sessions. (sim/hbk)