President condemns rights abuse
President condemns rights abuse
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Wednesday
that state institutions and regulations were susceptible to abuse
by state apparatus in the violation of human rights.
Addressing the opening of an international workshop on crimes
against humanity at the State Palace, the President called on all
institutions, including the Indonesian Military (TNI) and
National Police, to undertake internal restructuring to ensure
the protection of human rights.
At least 150 delegates representing government and academic
institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations, attended
the workshop supported by the Dutch, British, Canadian, Norwegian
and Swedish governments.
Abdurrahman said certain regulations had been enforced to the
detriment of humanity. He appealed for sweeping changes to the
regulations in a bid to protect the rights of citizens.
The President, however, warned people against expecting too
much from the existing institutions, "because it is often the
case that such agencies are exploited by certain officials to
justify violations".
Citing an example, he labeled the TNI and National Police as
institutions prone to abuse, which would infringe the basic
rights of citizens, particularly in the past.
The President attributed the obstacles in human rights
awareness to decades of oppressive policies, the lack of
personnel to introduce necessary changes and occasional attempts
by certain parties to obstruct reform.
"All the constraints must be taken into account in expediting
the improvement of our legal system, particularly regarding the
enforcement of HAM (basic human rights)," he said.
The plight to encourage legal reform should also be shared by
leaders of the TNI and National Police, and not just the minister
of justice, the President concluded.
The two-day international workshop is discussing many human
rights issues, including the principle of retroactivity.
Retroactive
Human rights activists have argued that non-retroactive
principles in the prosecution of human rights perpetrators is not
absolute and that newly-endorsed laws can be used to prosecute
past offenders.
In a session held at the Attorney General's Office, lawyer
Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara asserted that non-retroactivity
could be ignored in the case of gross human rights violations.
"The non-retroactive principle has been formulated as a human
right, where no one can be prosecuted under a law which was not
endorsed when the alleged crime was committed. But this principle
cannot be used as a defense to escape prosecution.
"What if the crime was the violation of human rights? Such a
crime, although it had not been considered in the nation's
criminal law, has violated the state's morality and basic
philosophy. So there should be legal action against the
perpetrators," he said.
The non-retroactive principle is stated in Article 15 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which reads
that no one shall be held guilty of any criminal offense on
account of any act or omission which did not constitute a
criminal offense, under national or international law, at the
time when it was committed.
Indonesia has adopted the principle in its Amendment of the
1945 Constitution, located in Article 28 (i).
However, to the contrary, the House of Representatives
endorsed Law No. 26 on the Human Rights Tribunal in 2000, which
contains a retroactive principle.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan, who is also a speaker
at the workshop, said that Law No. 26 is still effective, since
judges do not have the authority to question the existence of the
law.
"Legally, the retroactive principle can still be applied to
gross human rights violations, such as genocide and crime against
humanity," he said on the sidelines of the workshop. (bby)