National human rights promotion drive planned

JAKARTA (JP): The government will launch a national drive to promote human rights protection next year as part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday, after meeting with President Soeharto, the program would include the ratification of some UN conventions on racial discrimination, social rights and torture.

"UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent letters to all world leaders, including the President, and asked them to take measures to bolster progress and protection of human rights," Alatas said.

The one-year-long action plan will include programs for public education and dissemination of information to students and government agencies which have strong ties to human rights issues.

"The President has given his approval of this program and will issue a presidential decree on the plan," Alatas said.

The ratification of the convention on torture will likely be one of the most significant in the plan. Human rights activists have repeatedly urged the government to ratify the convention in order to prevent possible torture by officials of some government agencies and Armed Forces (ABRI) members.

At the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, in June 1993, China, India, Indonesia and several Middle East states strongly opposed the idea of outside interference in upholding human rights, insisting they had the right to set their own priorities.

Asian governments insisted they recognized the universal nature of human rights, but also said they should be considered in the context of the special characteristics of each nation.

The UN plans to review the 1993 Vienna declaration next year and set up a program of action to seek a fuller implementation of human rights standards and commitments.

"After five years, we need to review how far we have carried out those decisions (made in Vienna)," Alatas noted.

When asked about the most important event in foreign diplomacy this year, Alatas said that international criticism of East Timor had dropped compared to last year.

"I think Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) affairs are among the most important events of this year, due to the enlargement of its membership, which triggered some controversy at the time," Alatas said.

Laos and Myanmar officially joined ASEAN in July. The membership of Cambodia was postponed following the ousting of Cambodian First Prime Minister Ranariddh in June.

Some Western nations, including the United States, accused Cambodia of rights violations. (prb)