Government hit over rejection of UN report
JAKARTA (JP): Activists have deplored the government's recent rejection of a United Nations (UN) report on violence against women in Indonesia, on the grounds that its content was akin to viewpoints held by non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
"The report is too NGO-like," said human rights activist Saparinah Sadli, quoting on Friday remarks made by the Indonesian delegation to the 55th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in March.
During the session, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women (SR-VAW) Radhika Coomaraswamy presented results of her visit between Nov. 20 and Dec. 4 last year, when she compiled reports of violence against women that took place last May 13 and May 14.
Saparinah, the chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, said the report "sketches a very clear picture of the forms of violence experienced by women in Aceh, Irian Jaya, East Timor and Jakarta.
"The Indonesian government delegates in the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) rejected the report, arguing its content is based on prejudice, using anonymous individual cases, and that the findings were unsubstantial and could not be verified," Saparinah said in a joint statement with the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation and the Women's Solidarity group.
Saparinah said "the government considered Coomaraswamy insincere and disrespectful of the government".
"The negative reaction of the Indonesian government is ironic and counterproductive."
She said Coomaraswamy's findings "have not only made clear the problem of violence against women in Indonesia, but also give recommendations on how to overcome problems in the field of human rights".
Coomaraswamy obtained her data from sources which included Cabinet ministers, the local government in the East Timor capital of Dili, the police and military apparatus, the National Commission on Violence against Women, NGOs and from victims' testimonies.
"SR-VAW concludes that before May 1998 rape was used as a form of intimidation and torture by certain elements within the military.
"And after May 1998 the government has shown political will to end violence against women, but cases of violence and rape still continue until this very moment," Saparinah quoted Coomaraswamy's report as saying.
Coomaraswamy said in the report that "it is clear the May riots were followed by mass rapes, although it is difficult to state a clear number of victims".
The government-sponsored joint fact-finding team reported last November that at least 52 women were sexually assaulted, most of them Chinese-Indonesians.
"During the riots, the military was not alert, and even tended not to intervene to stop the violence," the report said, adding that the victims "have been threatened in order to shut them up".
Coomaraswamy said none of the victims of sexual assault, with whom she spoke during her investigation, had filed charges.
The victims had received death threats and anonymous letters warning them against filing charges. They had also received photographs of their own rapes, accompanied by a warning that the pictures would be widely distributed if the women dared to speak up, Coomaraswamy added.
She has called on the authorities at the highest level in Indonesia to introduce a witness protection program, and have those who allegedly issued the threats brought to court.
"Otherwise the legitimate process of politics and governance will always be subverted by shadowy forces who rule civil society through the use of terror," Coomaraswamy said in the report. (byg)