Labeling of 32 NGOs as 'problematic' criticized

JAKARTA (JP): A senior lawyer criticized the government yesterday for labeling 32 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as "problematic."

Luhut Pangaribuan, director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, said in a workshop on human rights that only the court of law has the authority to legally determine whether an organization is "problematic".

"It's an exercise of intimidation, either direct or indirect, by the government against the NGOs," Luhut said. "To my opinion, there is nothing wrong with what the NGOs have done."

Luhut was presenting his paper on NGO involvement in promoting human rights during the third day of the workshop jointly organized by the National Commission on Human Rights and the Raoul Wellenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law of Sweden.

The government said last month that the 32 NGOs had failed to designate Pancasila as their operating principle and that they were engaged in illegal activities. The attorney general will start questioning leaders of the NGOs next week.

"It seems like that the government is trying to depoliticize NGOs," said Luhut.

He said he regrets that relationships between the government and NGOs are deteriorating. "A sympathetic approach was taken by the government in the past when Minister of Home Affairs Rudini initiated regular dialogs with NGOs," Luhut said.

Luhut also explained why some NGOs are opposed to a 1985 law on mass organizations, saying that they have instead opted to work under the banner of foundations.

"They (NGOs) abide by their own rules instead of the law on mass organizations," he said. "The use of state power to treat NGOs the same as mass organizations is an arbitrary act," he added.

Luhut said that NGOs have campaigned relentlessly since the 1970s for the protection of human rights, despite the fact that their activities have sparked controversy.

"The positive roles of NGOs can be seen in the frequent use of the words 'human rights' nowadays which in the past might be linked with communism," Luhut said.

NGOs also played a major role in helping the government draw up the criminal code procedures, according to Luhut, who hailed the work as "a masterpiece" for containing the universal human rights declared by the United Nations 48 years ago.

"It is wrong, therefore, to believe that human rights have their origins in Western culture," Luhut said.

Indonesia has yet to ratify the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

However, Luhut said that there have been many loopholes and inconsistencies found in the criminal code procedures since they went into effect.

"The codes do not include a clause giving a judge the right to rule out dossiers agreed by defendants after the use of force," Luhut said as an example. (amd)