Princen urges rights activists to keep fighting

JAKARTA (JP): Veteran activist J.C. Princen called on rights campaigners not to relent in their work despite sweeping changes across the country and the inclusion of a state minister of human rights in the Cabinet.

Princen, director of the Foundation for Human Rights Advocation, warned that grave rights abuses might still occur in the country as differences between the provinces and the central government surfaced.

"I am personally worried that the central government will resort to using repressive means to calm protesting provinces or groups," Princen said during his 74th birthday celebration here on Saturday.

Princen acknowledged advances in human rights protection since the election of President Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur. But he warned that political pressure could cause the government to take a different route in the future.

"Gus Dur has been more democratic than his predecessors but who knows in politics. Many rights violations are a consequence of political warfare at the level of the elite," said Princen.

Rising separatist demands in several provinces are mainly due to prolonged injustice, Princen said, adding that the continued cries against rights abuses were evidence that the government had yet to address the problem properly.

"Even patience has its limit. What if the protesting people do not want to stop and Gus Dur's government losses its patience," said Princen, who has been actively campaigning for human rights since he arrived in Indonesia in 1947 as a Dutch soldier.

Princen said that at his age he was somewhat fatigued by the endless campaigning, but the desire to ensure that people's rights were respected continued to burn.

"Today I want to again remind the political elite, military officers and civilians to seriously make the consideration of human rights a part of their lives," he said.(emf)