MP: No Democratic Country Selects Activist Status for Human Rights Defenders

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - A member of Commission XIII of the House of Representatives, Mafirion, has emphasised that no democratic country conducts assessments to designate someone as a human rights activist or defender.

Mafirion views the discourse from Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai regarding plans to establish an advisory team to determine the status of human rights activists or defenders as something that needs serious examination, as it has the potential to conflict with the fundamental principles of civil liberties and human rights.

“There is no democratic country that makes human rights activist status the result of state selection. The state’s role should be to protect, not to determine who may become a human rights defender,” Mafirion stressed in his statement on Thursday (30/4/2026).

Mafirion also reminded of the 1998 Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the United Nations.

As such, he continued, status as a human rights activist is not something that can be determined through government administrative mechanisms.

This PKB politician acknowledged that the government’s efforts to maintain the integrity of the human rights movement from misuse by certain individuals are indeed understandable.

However, the step of forming an advisory team to establish human rights activist status is deemed not the right solution.

“This approach risks shifting the meaning of human rights from a universal right to merely an administrative status dependent on state recognition,” he said.

If the state has the authority to determine the legitimacy of human rights activists, this could open up space for restrictions on freedom of expression and weaken the public’s oversight function over power.

Furthermore, he warned that a certification mechanism could potentially create unequal legal protections.

“If there is human rights certification, then only parties recognised administratively will receive protection, while other individuals who genuinely defend human rights might not obtain the same guarantees before the law. If this happens, there will be injustice in the concept of human rights protection,” he explained.

On the same occasion, Mafirion encouraged the government to take more appropriate and proportionate steps to handle individuals who misuse human rights issues.