Government fails to try rights offenders: Todung

JAKARTA (JP): A noted human rights activist said on Sunday that the current government was repeating its predecessors' failure to bring human rights perpetrators to trial and to uphold the people's basic rights.

Executive director of the Center for Human Rights Studies (Yapusham), Todung Mulya Lubis, said he cannot imagine what would happen to the country if the government failed to improve the situation.

"In this country, human rights perpetrators are still free to sing in Karaoke bars, give television interviews, and call themselves democrats and reformists.

"And what is funnier is that they have become human rights activists," Todung said, while addressing the ceremony at the Yap Thiam Hien human rights award presentation.

He said the current rights violations are on the widening of the gap between the poor and the rich in the country.

"The people's social awareness is vanishing. Approving the imports of luxury items, such as cars, is an expression of the government's ignorance of economic and social injustices," Todung said.

This year's award went to the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), a non-governmental organization helping to protect the rights of residents victimized by the city administration's development programs.

The award was received by UPC coordinator Wardah Hafidz, accompanied by five of the consortium volunteers, including three scavengers, a pedicab driver, and a food vendor.

"We chose UPC for their strong efforts in helping people struggle for their legal, social and economic rights, which are vital for human dignity," Todung told journalists before the ceremony.

The award is presented annually in memory of Yap Thiam Hien, a noted Indonesian lawyer who dedicated his life to the struggle for human rights protection in the country. The award was first presented in 1992.

The award was presented in conjunction with the commemoration of the International Human Rights Day which falls on Dec. 10. (bby)