Human rights violations continue to haunt us

Human rights violations continue to haunt us

Aguswandi, London

Oppression is bad for a government's image, especially a
government such as Indonesia that is still struggling to repair
its reputation internationally. It deprives it of its legitimacy
and provides other countries with a justified reason to censure
it.

The continuation of human rights violations, conflicts and
oppression in Indonesia in the post-Soeharto era, especially in
Aceh and Papua, has clouded some positive developments in
Indonesian democracy. It has made the world cautious about giving
Indonesia a fuller role in the international arena.

While other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and
India are proudly campaigning for a seat on the UN Security
Council, after its reforms Indonesia is still busy explaining to
the world its domestic actions and policies that contravene
international standards of human rights.

In public meetings overseas on Indonesia, several questions
are asked again and again by many who are concerned about the
country's transition to democracy. Questions are regularly posed
about the reform of the military, Islamic militants, sustaining
the work of democratization, corruption and the problems of human
rights, especially in Aceh and Papua.

Government representatives have standard answers to most
questions apart from those relating to Aceh, West Papua and human
rights. They usually highlight current positive developments with
optimism. On military reform they refer to policies designed to
control the political and business role of the army.

On the question of Islamic militants, diplomats will point out
that moderate Islam, rather than militant Islam, is still
dominating religious discourse. Other positive developments are
also used to prove the regime is changed and more democratic.

But the nervous parts of the answers usually occur when the
diplomats have to explain the human rights situations, especially
in Aceh and Papua. They find themselves in difficulty because
they have to explain and defend the indefensible.

On Aceh and Papua, the common answer for hard line diplomats,
is that it is a problem of separatism, and for moderate ones,
that it is a legacy of the past -- the Soeharto regime. But both
would stress that the current government will do whatever it can
to solve the problem peacefully.

However answers by diplomats abroad are ultimately more about
spin -- preempting a situation where they would be held to blame
-- than about avoiding the oppression in the first place.

It is difficult but important to accept that even the present
government continues to allow the military to continue its old
and anachronistic method -- the use of force to solve both
conflicts. The continuation of the military offensive in Aceh and
the build-up of the military presence in Papua represents the
continuity between present government and the old one. In the
case of Aceh, it is unfortunate that while the government is
talking about peace, the Army is making war. There are further
plans for new troops to be deployed to Aceh, as well as Papua and
Poso in Central Sulawesi.

These military operations in conflict areas have resulted in
continuing violence and human rights violations. Although the
authorities try to keep the conflicts secret, human rights
reports from these militarized areas regularly come from beneath
the radar. They hurt Indonesia's reputation overseas and
adversely affect the image of positive democratic developments in
the country.

On the same day that the foreign minister, Hassan Wirayuda,
proudly spoke in front of the UN Security Council meeting in New
York last year about how great Indonesian democracy was after the
successful and peaceful elections, Human Rights Watch published a
report about extrajudicial killings, torture and unfair trials in
Aceh.

When Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently visited Australia and
New Zealand trying to seek support, the public and even members
of parliament protested about the killings in Aceh and Papua.
When on many other occasions Indonesian diplomats try to convince
the world about the wonderful progress made in Indonesia, they
are frequently interrupted with questions about Aceh and West
Papua and the general problem of human rights.

Being hostile to foreign and domestic members of the public
and groups critical of the human rights problem is not a
solution. Indeed it actually worsens the already existing
problem. The current policy to ban foreign groups or individuals
working on human rights from visiting Aceh and Papua will make
the world ask "what are you afraid of?" and "are you hiding
something?"

It is even a legitimate question to ask what Indonesia has in
common with North Korea, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe -- countries
infamous for their grave human rights abuses. The answer is that
Amnesty International and other human rights group are not
allowed to visit these places. The UN commission of experts
recently set up by Kofi Annan to review the prosecution of
serious crimes in East Timor, was refused entry to Indonesia this
month. I wonder how Makarim Wibisono, the Indonesian ambassador
as the chairman of the UN commission on Human Rights, explains
this in Geneva.

The event to commemorate the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta,
of course, will be full of praise for the government, but it will
be a superficial image of Indonesia's leading role in the
international community. The current Helsinki talks to pursue
peace in Aceh, are a far better way to creating a better
situation on the ground and a better image of Indonesia overseas.

The correct diplomatic strategy for Indonesia is not to try
and defend the many wrongs done by its Army in Aceh and West
Papua and in other human-rights sensitive areas but to try and
solve the problems and improve the situation on the ground via
peaceful methods. Dignified diplomacy is diplomacy based on
correcting the policy from inside, not justifying the wrongs
through exploiting the pragmatism of international politics
outside. Without genuine work to improve its conditions
domestically, it will continue to be difficult for Indonesia to
play a significant role internationally.

The writer is a human rights advocate working for TAPOL, the
Indonesia Human Rights Campaign in London. He can be reached at
agus_smur@hotmail.com.