Government fails to try rights offenders: Todung
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)