Human rights courses planned for universities

JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights is developing courses in human rights to be taught at universities.

Commission chairman Munawir Sjadzali said that currently the subject could not be taught at primary or secondary schools.

"Our school curriculum is already too big," Munawir said.

Initially it is hoped that human rights would be taught as an optional subject at universities, he said, adding that he had discussed the matter with officials at the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Munawir opened a workshop yesterday to hammer out the human rights studies curriculum.

The four-day meeting, held at the commission's headquarters in Jakarta, is jointly organized with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Twenty-five participants -- from the government, military, universities, non-governmental organizations and of the human rights commission -- are involved.

The involvement of Canada follows the visit by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in January 1996, during which he pledged his government's cooperation to help with the promotion of human rights in Indonesia.

Canadian Ambassador Gary J. Smith told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the cooperation was a two-way exchange of ideas and information between members of the two human rights commissions.

"We are talking about how information on human rights is passed along to the citizens and the governments in various countries. We have quite a long experience in Canada with our human right commission," he said.

Canada has been one of the most vocal foreign critics of Indonesia's human rights record. In 1992, it froze financial assistance to Indonesia in protest over Jakarta's policy in East Timor.

The workshop is the first project that the Indonesian human rights commission has held with a foreign institution. (05)