Govt curtails human rights, activists says
Govt curtails human rights, activists says
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The human rights condition in the country has been deteriorating
since the government announced wars on separatism and terrorism
last year, rights watchdogs said.
The Human Rights Watch Group (HRW) said the government's
policies on the two issues had sparked new humanitarian and human
rights crises in the country, worsening its human rights record.
The group, which consists of 28 non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), is expected to present its 2003 evaluation of Indonesia's
human rights condition during the 60th session of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva next month.
The HRW highlighted policies that were imposed last year on
Aceh and Papua provinces, both of which are still struggling to
settle separatist conflicts.
The government imposed martial law on Aceh on May 19, 2003
after talks to maintain a cease-fire between the government and
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), brokered by the Henry Dunant
Centre, faltered.
Despite protests from rights groups and regret expressed by
international donors, President Megawati Soekarnoputri decided to
extend the martial law another six months.
Martial law allows the military to restrict civilian rights,
including freedom of expression, and the imposition of the law
has been fraught with rights abuses.
"Both warring sides are responsible for the atrocity. Indeed,
the extension of the law means an extended gross violation of
human rights," the HRW said in a report released on Tuesday.
The group recorded 166 cases of physical abuse and torture,
200 arbitrary arrests and detention, 43 abductions, 54
involuntary disappearances and 145 extrajudicial killings, as
well as 22 attacks against journalists between May and October.
"While being aware of the fact that GAM, too, has committed
serious human rights violations, it is the government of
Indonesia that holds the key to any political solution to the
conflict," the group said.
Fahrul Syahmega, a rights activist, deplored the government,
GAM and civil society for lacking the will to promote peace in
the province.
"Indonesia has many laws that support peacebuilding in Aceh
instead of martial law," he said.
In Papua, the government's issuance of a 2003 Presidential
Decree to implement Law No. 49/1999 on the division of Papua into
three provinces and the revision of the decree on the Papuan
People's Council (MRP) has contributed to a series of bloody
incidents there late last year, the group said.
"Neither the law nor the decree reflect the needs of locals,
while the bill has blocked Papua's involvement in politics
through the MRP," it said.
The revised decree on the MRP establishes the council as a
body dealing with tribal and cultural affairs, and not a Papuan
representative council to the government.
Separately, Ifdhal Kasim of the Institute for Policy Research
and Advocacy (ELSAM), a member of the HRW, said the government's
campaign on war against terror had opened more loopholes for
rights violations.
Since the terrorist attack on Bali two years ago, the
government has enacted a legislation most rights watchdogs have
slammed for justifying rights abuses.
Antiterrorism Law No. 15/2003 is "a legislation of an
authoritarian character" that ignores basic rights, Ifdhal said.
He feared that the law would only empower intelligence
agencies, the military and police to further curtail people's
freedoms.
The law enables the detention of terror suspects for seven
days upon the basis of intelligence reports, without the
knowledge of their families or lawyers.
The government has completed the amended law, which increases
the detention period to 30 days.
Under the Criminal Code, preliminary evidence is required to
arrest an individual.