Government urged to ratify convention against torture
JAKARTA (JP): Human rights campaigners yesterday urged the government and the House of Representatives to quickly ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Led by lawyer Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, the activists said there was no reason whatsoever for Indonesia to further delay ratifying the document which it signed in 1985.
Abdul Hakim, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) said that on the contrary, the UN document conforms well with the state ideology, Pancasila, and other legislations against torture and other forms of human rights violations.
"The signing nine years ago was not followed by a ratification, so it has not yet become a part of our legal system," Abdul Hakim told a press conference at his office attended by other human rights activists.
ELSAM is now pushing to have the document ratified out of concern of increasing reports of torture, he said, stressing that torture appeared to have now become the accepted practice of extracting confessions during police interrogations.
"There are still many unsolved cases. This means the victims or their families have not received legal justice and the state officials directly or indirectly involved have not been punished for their wrongdoings," Abdul Hakim said.
He said the methods of torture include electric shocks, crushing the leg of a table on an accused's foot, burning a suspect with a lit cigarette and beating a victim with rattan sticks.
Ifdhal Kasim, a staff member of ELSAM, said one unsolved case involved the murder of labor activist Marsinah last year and the trials of the alleged murderers which were wrought with controversies.
Asmara Nababan, Secretary for the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development and a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, said the Commission also considered the ratification as one of the government's most top priorities.
"Its been nine years since the signing of the convention... There is no excuse for being unprepared," he said.
Abdul Hakim said ELSAM has submitted a draft of the convention to the ministries of foreign affairs, of justice and the state secretariat as well as to each faction in the House of Representatives. A meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas is scheduled for Dec. 21.
Although the NGOs hope the ratification will be made without reservation, Asmara speculated that the government might have some reservations about certain aspects, particularly on the question of national sovereignty.
He pointed out that an article in the convention requires the signatory country to make periodic reports to the UN and another empowers a UN anti-torture committee to investigate allegations of torture.
Abdul Hakim said the issue of sovereignty should not be used as a pretext any more now because under the current era of globalization, borders between nations are rapidly diminishing.
"If the House of Representatives can ratify the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) why can't they also ratify this convention?" Abdul Hakim asked. The GATT treaty was ratified only a few months after Indonesia signed it.
He said ratification would not necessarily ensure the sound implementation of human rights, because in the end political goodwill was needed.
Indonesia is one of the remaining 15 countries who signed the convention but has yet to ratify it. Eighty-two other countries have already ratified the convention.
Abdul Hakim also noted that Indonesia has so far only ratified four of the UN's Convention on Human Rights, which is far less than neighboring Philippines which has ratified 18.(pwn)