Govt lauded for Pakpahan's treatment

Govt lauded for Pakpahan's treatment

SEMARANG (JP): Human rights activists have praised President
Soeharto's decision to allow Canada to send medical diagnostic
equipment and personnel to Jakarta to treat jailed labor leader
Muchtar Pakpahan.

Satjipto Rahardjo and Muladi, both members of the National
Commission on Human Rights, agreed in an interview with The
Jakarta Post over the weekend that the decision was a sign that
Indonesia respects human rights.

Muladi said treating Pakpahan here was a better option than
sending him for treatment abroad, which he described as "risky".

"That might expose him to foreign influence which is not
always good," Muladi said.

He added that Soeharto's decision would help dispel negative
rumors about the upholding of human rights here.

"Hospitals here are good enough," he added.

Satjipto said the decision would help convince foreign
countries that Pakpahan had indeed been given medically adequate
and equitable treatment because it involved both local and
foreign experts.

Last week, the Canadian government announced it was sending
diagnostic equipment along with the specialists to examine
Pakpahan, chairman of the unrecognized Indonesian Prosperous
Labor Union (SBSI), who is being treated for lung problems at the
Cikini Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Pakpahan is on trial for subversion, but court sessions have
been interrupted due to his ill health.

Soeharto told U.S. President Bill Clinton last week in
Vancouver, Canada, that foreign physicians were free to examine
Pakpahan but an Indonesian doctor would have to be present.

Satjipto dismissed the suggestion that Soeharto had given in
to foreign pressure on Pakpahan's illness.

"I only view this from the humane side. He is a sick man and
needs urgent help," said the senior lecturer at the state-owned
Diponegoro University's School of Law.

A professor of law at Diponegoro University, Dimyati Hartono,
shared Muladi and Satjipto's positive view of the decision.

He believed the government was displaying its goodwill, and
that its sole intention was a cure for Pakpahan.

"However, the government should be vigilant on the possibility
of efforts to take Pakpahan abroad. The government should be
strict on this matter," Dimyati said. (har/09)