Local rights body proposed
Local rights body proposed
SURABAYA (JP): The East Java chapter of the National Awakening
Party (PKB) proposed on Wednesday the establishment of a regional
commission on human rights to uphold human rights in the
province.
"The establishment of such a regional commission is expected
to help improve the upholding of the human rights, thereby
convincing foreign investors intending to enter the province,"
Fathorrasyid, head of the PKB faction in the East Java
legislative assembly, said.
He explained that the establishment of such a regional
commission was in no way designed to compete with the National
Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Several cases involving human rights abuses in the regions
have received only scant attention from the Jakarta-based Komnas
HAM, he said, adding that the national commission was frequently
too late in responding to such cases.
Fathorrasyid said that members of the regional commission
could be elected from among the elements of society, and should
be independent and willing to undergo fit-and-proper tests in the
provincial assembly.
The members could be chosen from among people who were
concerned with human rights, including journalists, academics and
members of non-governmental organizations.
He said violent incidents related to various cases, including
labor strikes, land confiscation and coercion by security
personnel, frequently occurred in East Java.
In some circumstances, he said, the security personnel
themselves frequently were responsible for repressive actions
that could only be classified as human rights abuses.
Commenting on the legal defense of two PKB members who have
been detained since early August by the East Java police on
suspicion of distributing antigovernment pamphlets, Fathorrasyid
said that advocacy would continue to be carried out on their
behalf.
He said that what was done by the two PKB members could not be
classified as an attack on the government.
Besides the two members of the provincial legislative council
from the PKB faction -- M. Rozak and Mustawiyanto -- six students
were also detained by the East Java Police. One week later,
chairman of the Democratic People's Party Eusibius Purwadi was
also arrested for his alleged involvement.
Fathorrasyid said that by detaining them the police were
guilty of human rights abuses as the actions were indiscriminate
and lacked any order or authorization from the governor of East
Java.
"Frankly speaking, we filed a lawsuit against the police in
the Bondowoso District Court, but we lost. We're now trying to
explain the case in detail to the investigators," he said.
(nur/08)