MPR decree on human rights a must

Charles Himawan, a professor of law and economics at the University of Indonesia and a member of the National Human Rights Commission joined the debate on whether there is a need for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to produce a decree on human rights.

JAKARTA (JP): It seems that some new members of the MPR still misunderstand the concept of human rights despite a recent lecture given by some members of the National Human Rights Commission at the Bogor Palace. The most serious misunderstanding is that human rights is a purely Western imported concept.

This misunderstanding is the result of the fact that in the last four decades, the United States was the first country to require that human rights be taken into consideration in its governing process.

On the basis of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the U.S. State Department is currently required to compile a report on the human rights situation in countries which receive assistance from the United States government.

In 1974, this obligation was expanded to include countries which have been doing business with U.S. companies. Two years later, the U.S. Congress established a human rights coordinator within the Department of State. In 1977, the status of this coordinator was elevated to become an assistant secretary of state. This is the very official who on occasion visits the human rights commission to exchange views.

Recently in their visit to Jakarta, both the British and Canadian foreign ministers had had the opportunity to exchange views with the commission. Out of the dialogue it became apparent that they, along with other European Union countries, were required by law to base their foreign policy on human rights. This has helped maintain the impression that human rights is purely of Western origin.

Human rights are rights attached to human being. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), whom the late president Sukarno admired, called them "inalienable rights", rights which cannot be alienated from a human being.

Whether a man is an Indonesian, European, American or African, his "inalienable rights" are the same. The problem is in their implementation. This cannot possibly be the same everywhere, because man lives in a different environment in terms of geography, society, politics, law and economics.

Life in Indonesia, which has sea coasts of thousand of miles, is certainly different from life in land-locked Austria. Thus, the observance of human rights in Indonesia is obviously different from that of Austria.

Within the Indonesian geographical environment itself, observance of human rights in the arid land of East Timor is certainly different from the heavily forested land of Irian Jaya.

A Malaysian lives within a social structure which is different from that of Europe. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad therefore has stated that the observance of human rights in Europe and in Malaysia must, out of necessity, be different.

American economic strength is different from that of Indonesia, and therefore the implementation of human rights in both countries is also different.

Since there are so many different factors which can affect the implementation of human rights, Jefferson preferred not to involve himself with the problem.

Indonesia's founding fathers, including Sukarno himself, incorporated Jefferson's inalienable rights into the state ideology of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

Pancasila talks about social justice for all the people of Indonesia. This certainly is aimed to provide a social platform to enable Indonesians to pursue happiness. Jefferson also talked about the "pursuit of happiness". The 1945 Constitution talked about a "right to life" and Jefferson also talked about the "right to life".

Ideas like these which can be traced back to the noted 17th century English political philosopher, John Locke, apparently were already "Indonesianized" by Indonesia's founding fathers longer than 50 years ago. Thus, human rights cannot be considered an imported concept from the West.

Aware of the importance of observing human rights at the turn of the century, President Soeharto set up the human rights commission on June 7, 1993. His great concern is reflected from the fact that the establishment of the commission took place less than three months after the closing of the previous session of the MPR on March 11, 1993.

After working for nearly four years, the commission feels that the concept of human rights is not sufficiently institutionalized yet and social awareness on human rights is still extremely poor.

It is perhaps in this context that the National Defense and Security Council, chaired by President Soeharto himself, compiled a kind of MPR bill on human rights.

At this stage, people can recall that even though Pancasila has legally been in existence since 1945, nevertheless in 1978 the MPR issued the noted decree on the dissemination and implementation of Pancasila.

Considering the global concern regarding human rights, an MPR decree on the subject would elevate the integrity of Indonesian citizens both in the international as well as the national community.