No need to alter human rights declaration: YLBHI

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), sees "no immediate necessity" for a review of a United Nations Human Rights declaration.

The review was suggested during a sideline to the recent meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Malaysia last week.

Speaking to journalists here yesterday, foundation chairman Bambang Widjojanto argued that the 49-year-old declaration was still coherent and encompassed the spirit of human rights protection despite new global developments.

"Even if there are new international developments that make the declaration look outdated, why change the declaration in which the spirit of the human rights protection still lives," Bambang said.

The foundation announced that it had forwarded an open letter to ASEAN leaders yesterday expressing concern over possible amendments to the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

The idea of reviewing the 1948 UN rights declaration was first introduced by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. It came to the fore when Asian and Western ministers, at the end of their meeting in Malaysia, expressed opposing views on the idea.

ASEAN and other Asian ministers expressed their general support, arguing that the declaration has become outdated and failed to reflect the development needs of the developing countries.

The U.S. and European delegates at the meeting strongly rejected the idea.

Bambang alleged the proposal might have more to do with a "hidden political agenda" rather than the concern for people's needs.

"As a part of the people, we see no immediate necessities for the review of the declaration," he argued.

The foundation, in its letter to ASEAN leaders, said it deplored the proposed idea to review the declaration.

The proposal had "cast mud" on ASEAN as a regional organization which fights for values of justice on the world stage, the letter said.

Furthermore, if ASEAN went ahead with the proposed idea it would isolate the association from fundamental human rights values and highlight the fact that ASEAN is shielding itself behind the right to develop ideology.

"At the same time it impugns the establishment of a democratic political system within each country ... (while acting as) a kind of anti-democracy coalition," the letter said.

The foundation then lashed out at the admission of "tyrannic" Myanmar as an ASEAN member.

It said last week's inclusion reflected ASEAN's ignorance of how important the appreciation of democracy and human rights was to the ethics of ASEAN's code of conduct.

Indonesia, Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are members of ASEAN. (aan)