Indonesia and human rights

The recent series of articles in The Jakarta Post from Geneva on Indonesia's chairmanship of the UN Commission on Human Rights contain statements that are simply not factual -- not to call them wrong.

You state: "Indonesia has adopted many of the UN conventions on rights and amended its laws accordingly to comply with the international norms set out in those conventions." This is clearly inaccurate, as there are several laws that are still not amended to comply with the international norms set out in those conventions.

To give one example, Indonesia in 1984 ratified the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. However several laws are still discriminating based on gender, including the laws on citizenship and immigration. Furthermore, Indonesia's Constitutional Court is not authorized to carry out judicial review on these and other laws that don't comply with the amended constitution since it can only carry out review on laws enacted after the first constitutional amendments in October 1999, as your newspaper reported in August 2003.

Thus Indonesia can have an amended constitution but at the same time allow laws to be in place that are in conflict with the constitution, with the UN conventions on rights, and with international norms set out in those conventions. At the same time, we have a Constitutional Court that can carry out judicial review on laws but only limited in an arbitrary fashion, meaning that it cannot touch certain laws that violate the constitution and the UN conventions.

Your articles quote Ambassador Makarim Wibisono, the head of Indonesia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, as stating, "You can't pick and choose which rights you want to protect and promote. Human rights are indivisible." It would be a great irony that the country he represents is doing just that.

This not only tarnishes the image of Indonesia in the World Community -- which must have a negative effect on potential donors and investors -- but also makes a mockery out of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

KARINDRA SANTOSO, London