Human rights defenders call for protection

Human rights defenders call for protection

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Human rights groups urged the government on Wednesday to
recognize and honor their work to help the groups to continue to
promote basic human rights in the face of terror.

Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI)
member Johnson Panjaitan said individuals committed to human
rights -- who mainly comprised lawyers and journalists -- were
frequently subjected to suspicion, terror, repression and even
death threats.

"Such terror, intimidation, violence and other attempts to
hamper the rights defenders in promoting the people's rights
cannot be tolerated and are against the law. Such terror cannot
stop us...we're not afraid," he said.

Panjaitan, who was nearly killed by gunfire during his work
defending the Acehnese, made the remarks in a joint declaration
at the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation.

In their declaration, the rights activists called for support
and urged the United Nations to send special observers to monitor
the violence, intimidation and terror designed to hamper human
rights work in Indonesia.

National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras) co-founder Munir said that the government had
not only failed to protect the people's civil, political and
economic rights, but had also failed to protect the rights
defenders by rejecting cooperation in the disclosure or
prosecution of the rights abuse perpetrators.

"It's not that we ask for privileges. The government should be
accountable for any form of rights abuses to all the people
without exception and to honor the rights defenders for their
work. Instead of being honored, the rights defenders are
frequently accused of being a threat to the government," Munir
said.

A bomb was planted at Munir's residence in Malang, East Java
last August.

National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) secretary
general Asmara Nababan joined the chorus, saying that although
the country had signed the 1999 Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders, none of the existing laws gave the defenders
protection from lawsuits connected with their work.