More support flows in to defend human rights body
JAKARTA (JP): More people are coming to the defense of the National Commission on Human Rights since it received a rap over the knuckles from the government for overstepping its boundaries.
Former home affairs minister Rudini and legal scholar Yusril Ihza Mahendra, on separate occasions yesterday, said the commission has been working within its prescribed boundaries.
In addition, the growing public trust in the commissions effectiveness in handling grievances should remind the government of the shortcomings of its own agencies, Rudini said.
After giving an oration to mark International Human Rights Day, which falls on Dec. 10, Yusril yesterday said the Presidential Decree No. 50/1993, with which the commission was established, clearly stipulates the body is authorized to gather facts and monitor violations of rights.
"In order to gather facts, the commission has to investigate, its members have to 'go down below,' and see people," Yusril said.
These activities could not be construed as the commission directly settling disputes, as alleged by Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman last week, Yusril said.
Rudini said the great trust in the commission displayed by the public should remind government agencies to improve their services.
After addressing a seminar on state affairs held by the Association of Intellectuals for Pancasila Development (PCPP), Rudini said unless government institutions improved their performance, there was a danger of public discontent which could lead to social unrest.
"We have to remain aware of the danger of people's dissatisfaction over government decisions. This discontent could lead to social unrest and disrupt national stability," said Rudini, who leads the Institute for Strategic Studies of Indonesia (LPSI), a research center with a growing reputation.
Rudini cited a number of recent riots in the country which he said were rooted in people's dissatisfaction with many of the decisions made by government institutions.
"Government officials should therefore change their perspective of what it is that constitutes service to the public.
"They should not only issue decisions based on existing laws and regulations, but should consider factors such as the actual conditions of people lives," he said.
He cited cases of people living on state-owned land plots. Despite the fact that it has every right to take back the land, the government should not just evacuate the inhabitants but should also consider how long the land has been a home for the people, he said.
Islam
Yusril yesterday was speaking at a discussion on Islam and human rights held by the Indonesian Committee for World Moslems Solidarity (KISDI). He said in his oration that the teaching of Islam is based on the concept of human rights, although it does not call it that.
The lecturer at University of Indonesia's Law School, gave an example of the Islamic concept of human rights in the Medina Charter -- an agreement Prophet Muhammad signed 14 centuries ago with the Moslems' enemies in order to establish peaceful co- existence. The rights of every individual, regardless of their religion, was to be protected.
"The charter allowed the followers of different faiths to live together. Medina was then a pluralistic city recognizing individual, cultural and religious rights.
"It's a misperception to say that Indonesia, whose majority population is Moslem, does not have cultural roots in human rights concerns," he said.
In Islamic teaching what is important for human rights promotion is the concept of law and justice which has influenced society, he said. (03/imn/swe)