Princen urges rights activists to keep fighting

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)