Komnas HAM to have office in Papua

JAYAPURA: The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has agreed to set up a representative office in Papua to address human rights abuses in the country's easternmost province.

Secretary of Komnas HAM's committee for the establishment of a representative office in Papua Pieter Ell told Antara on Monday that the decision was taken during the rights body's plenary meeting on Nov. 5 in Jakarta.

According o Pieter, Komnas HAM chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara had officially informed Papua Governor Jaap P. Solossa about the plan on Nov. 8.

Pieter, who is also coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Papua, said the plan should also obtain approval from the local legislature. Komnas HAM has yet to submit the proposal to the Papua Legislature.

Members of the representative office will be selected from candidates proposed by districts in the province, based on Law No. 39 on human rights, he said.

To follow up on the agreement, the committee would organize a workshop on establishing the representative office by inviting representatives from the local government, non-governmental organizations, legal consultants and legislators. --Antara