Megawati issues decree on national human rights committee
Megawati issues decree on national human rights committee
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has issued a decree establishing
a national committee that will coordinate human rights activity
across the country.
Chaired by the minister of justice and human rights, the
committee will be responsible directly to the president, with
members comprising representatives of both the government and
national human rights institutions.
According to the decree signed on May 11, 2004, the
committee's tasks will include establishing and strengthening
institutions enforcing the National Action Plan on Human Rights
(RANHAM), preparing the ratification of international human
rights instruments, disseminating human rights information and
monitoring, evaluating and submitting human rights reports to the
president.
To facilitate its work, the committee will need to set up a
national secretariat under the Ministry of Justice and Human
Rights.
The minister of justice and human rights, as chairman of the
national committee, along with governors across the country, will
form the provincial RANHAM committees, which will be accountable
to governors and the national committee.
Members of provincial committees will comprise government
representatives, experts and public figures.
Similar committees will also be set up at regental/municipal
levels across the country.
The decree was signed to replace the 1998 to 2003 National
Action Plan on Human Rights, which ended in December last year.
The new presidential decree is valid for the next five years
until 2009.
Local authorities are required to allocate funds to finance
these new offices, while the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
will finance the national secretariat.
The national committee will be required to submit reports to
the president at least once a year, while offices at provincial
or regental/municipal levels will have to submit reports to
governors or regents/mayors annually.
Member of the government-sanctioned National Commission on
Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Zoemrotin K. Susilo welcomed the
committee, saying that the two agencies might be able to work
together in educating and disseminating human rights information
to the public.
"However, only Komnas HAM has the authority to investigate or
mediate in instances where gross violations of human rights are
alleged to have occurred," Zoemrotin told the Post.
She said the committee was set up to improve the country's
human rights record in the future.
"But we shall work in separate fields; only in a few areas
such as education and information dissemination could we work
together," Zoemrotin added.
When asked whether the national committee would be effective
in improving the country's track record, she said, "This is
something that we should determine after the committees have been
established across the country".
She said clear parameters had to be established to appraise
the performance of the committee in order to assess the
effectiveness of the offices.