Komnas HAM to have office in Papua

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