House backs UN convention approval

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives for the first time used its right of initiative yesterday to set forth a motion for the ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Torture signed by the government a decade ago.

All four House factions in a plenary session chaired by Lt. Gen. Hari Sabarno fully endorsed plans to ratify the convention.

Golkar legislator Abu Hasan Sazili said after the session that the House used its right of initiative because the government had yet to propose the ratification of the convention.

The ratification is urgent because of rampant abuse of human rights in the country, he said.

"It is no secret that many people have been arbitrarily mistreated, forced to lie on ice blocks and, even worse, raped in interrogation rooms by those who actually should protect them. Many others have been abducted for having different opinions and political views."

Stories of electrical shocks and being forced to sleep atop ice blocks were recently recounted by activists who were kidnapped by a well-organized group.

The UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was ratified in 1948 by the UN General Assembly as a protocol of the Declaration of Universal Human Rights.

Sazili conceded that the use of the House's right of initiative was long overdue, particularly since the government signed it on Oct. 23, 1985.

"Late it may be, but it is better than doing nothing," he remarked.

He said the House would now ask the government to appoint a team, expected from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the convention with the House.

"The discussion is expected to begin before the end of this month," he said, adding that "the House hopes the convention can be ratified next month".

President B.J. Habibie last month kicked off a five-year National Action Plan on Human Rights in an attempt to better Indonesia's much maligned international image on rights issues.

During the campaign, the government will speed up its efforts to promote human rights awareness both among citizens and government officials.

Two other major conventions yet to be signed by the government are the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (rms)