Press told to do more to combat discrimination

Urip Hudiono The Jakarta Post Jakarta

A prominent human rights activist urged national press over the weekend to do more to put an end to rampant racial discrimination in the country by helping to build better understanding and awareness of racial issues.

Esther I. Yusuf from Solidaritas Nusa Bangsa said on Saturday that the national press were eager to uncover incidents of discriminatory treatment, but did little to eradicate racism.

"Many media stop at the sensation of unraveling discrimination issues and do not go further so that the public have a thorough understanding and awareness of it," Esther said.

She, however, failed to explain how the national press could contribute to eradicating discrimination.

Esther, who won the human rights Yap Thiam Hien award in 2001, pointed to the case of issuing identity (ID) cards for Indonesians of ethnic Chinese descent as an example.

Although media coverage brought the discrimination case to light and forced the government to address the issue, the public had yet to understand and to be aware of other similar discriminatory practices, she said.

"What about the regulation that requires family registration cards and the (Indonesian Citizenship Certificate) be shown for Indonesians of Chinese descent to get ID cards," said Esther.

Chinese-Indonesians are still required to show their citizenship certificate, or SBKRI, to prove their Indonesian citizenship when applying for official documents such as birth certificates and passports.

The public, she said, had yet to be made aware of gender discrimination connected to racial discrimination against Chinese-Indonesians.

"In this patriarchal society, children born of an ethnic Chinese mother and a non-Chinese father do not need an SBKRI, but in the opposite case, they do," she said.

Esther expressed the hope that the 2003 International Federation of Journalists' Journalism for Tolerance Prize would encourage Indonesian journalists to be more thorough in uncovering and combating discriminatory issues.

The IFJ is an annual competition held to promote tolerance and pluralism, combat all forms of discrimination and build an understanding of cultural, religious and ethnic differences.

The competition is open to all journalistic works -- electronic, print or broadcast on television or radio -- produced during the year.

The competition will award 3,000 Euros to each regional winner from Latin America, Central and Western Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Last year, the first year the competition was held, Indonesian journalists took two prizes in the category of radio and television media, while the prize for print and online media went to a Thai journalist.