Let's not discriminate

We have just learned from the Surabaya State Administrative Court that disabled people are not the losers. The court favored on May 25 a disabled woman in a case filed against the mayor, whose issued a decree that effectively prohibited the woman from applying for a job as a civil servant just because she is paralyzed.

The court ruled in favor of the woman as it acknowledged there was discrimination involved in denying her the right to become a civil servant.

The mayor's decree is clearly incongruent with Law No. 4/1997, which states that the disabled must be given equal opportunities in all aspects of life. No doubt, the court's courage to give the disabled woman her rights deserves a thumbs up.

In big cities, like heterogeneous Jakarta, segregation -- in all forms -- is still rampant in almost all layers of the community.

A survey conducted in March by the Indonesian Institute for Civil Society (INCIS), in cooperation with the European Union and Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia revealed that the people of Jakarta suffer from poor public services as a result of discriminatory treatment.

More than half of 480 respondents interviewed in 80 subdistricts in Jakarta said that officials' promptness in addressing their needs depended on extra money offered to the officials. The survey also said that 51.5 percent of respondents conceded that poor residents got poor services, while 11.3 percent of the respondents said that officials completely ignored them.

Corruption -- in the form of bribery -- was the biggest problem in this matter, the survey concluded.

The survey also found that other factors relating to friendship, familiarity, ethnicity and political affiliation also played a role in the discriminatory treatment given by the officials.

These findings tell us that officials pay more attention to certain groups of people, especially those who give them extra money. Thus, it is true that -- for city administration officials -- the service depends on the color of the money.

Given the real situation, it is very possible that the officials are not aware of the spirit of equality enshrined in the state ideology of Pancasila, which is always drilled into civil servants as well as the police and military. One of the edicts is kemanusiaan yang adil dan beradab (fair and civilized humanity), which promotes justice and equality among mankind.

The updated 1945 Constitution has probably been poorly communicated to government officials and law enforcers.

Paragraph 2 of Article 28I of the amended 1945 Constitution clearly states that every citizen has the right to be free of any discriminative treatment, and deserves protection from any form of discrimination.

The country's respect for the right to protection against discrimination is also proven by the ratification of the International Convention on The Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965 by then President B.J. Habibie in 1999.

The fact that discrimination is still prevalent in all aspects of life indicates that there must be something wrong with our society.

Who is then responsible for this situation?

The governor of Jakarta was an Army lieutenant general, who -- according to the respondents in the survey -- is perceived as being capable of improving his subordinates' discipline. Unfortunately, his military background has apparently failed in the promotion of and respect for basic human rights.

Discipline does relate to compliance with the law. Therefore, if the governor was able to make his subordinates more disciplined, there would be fewer and fewer unscrupulous, tardy and corrupt officials.

In reality what the Jakartans have been facing is tardy, unscrupulous and corrupt officials. City residents have become victims of corruption and discrimination at the hands of the officials. As the capital city, Jakarta has obviously failed to promote the spirit of antidiscrimination, which is a prerequisite for a better civil society.