House criticized for ignoring rights campaigners

House criticized for ignoring rights campaigners

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) has been facing mounting
criticism for disqualifying some noted rights campaigners in its
selection of new members for the National Commission on Human
Rights (Komnas HAM).

Critics said the decisions had been based on whether the
legislators liked or disliked the candidates rather than on a
fair examination.

The criticism was not only aired by rights activists, but one
of the 23 who qualified.

Director of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice
(LBH Apik) Nursyahbani Katjasungkana suspected that the
disqualification of rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis by the
legislators was a result of subjective reasons.

"Perhaps this is because of strong criticism voiced by Mulya
Lubis against the legislators in the past," Nursyahbani said.

Todung, 53, is known for his strong commitment to upholding
the promotion and protection of human rights since the 1970s.

Enny Soeprapto, one of the 23 qualifying candidates, expressed
concern over the exclusion of some figures from the commission's
membership.

"Normally, a figure like Todung Mulya Lubis is eligible for
the commission. I don't know what criteria was adopted by the
legislators," she said.

Enny, however, hailed the results of the test, saying that the
composition of the new members of the commission had shown
pluralism.

Both Enny and Nursyahbani were commenting on the
disqualification of some figures, including Todung Mulya Lubis,
Hendardi, and Wardah Hafidz, during the selection for the Komnas
HAM membership conducted by the House's Commission II for legal
affairs on Monday.

Responding to the results of the selection, Todung simply said
that the fit and proper test at the House was political,
therefore it would be difficult to fill the expectations of
various people.

"We expect an fair and objective process, but it was political
bargaining that determined the final decision," Todung told The
Jakarta Post by phone from Paris.

Despite the criticism, two members of the House's Commission
II defended the selection process, saying that the legislators
had conducted the recruitment process in accordance with the
rules.

Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa of Golkar and Tumbu Saraswati of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) denied
allegations that a vote was cast during the selection to
determine the members.

"It was not voting. We shared our preferences with fellow
legislators," Agun told the Post.

Tumbu agreed, saying that in the selection process legislators
were given the freedom to choose their preferences from among the
35 nominees. A legislator could choose more than one.

Agun said that long before the candidates appeared at the
commission for a hearing, the legislators had assessed their
track records, educational background and papers, which outlined
the opinions of the candidates.

After assessing the candidates during a six-day consecutive
hearing, the legislators were given the opportunity to make their
personal choices.

Agun acknowledged that he had 17 candidates on his list. "Only
one of my preferred nominees was disqualified," he said.

The selection of candidate members by the House of
Representatives is stipulated in Law No. 39/1999 on human rights.
The House is supposed to pick 35 candidates to fill the
membership seats of the commission.

With only 23 candidates declared eligible, the legislators had
to select another 12.

The current Komnas HAM members were appointed by the
President.