Government urged to ratify convention against torture

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)