Public expressions 'restricted'

On Monday, three women were detained for 24 hours in Jakarta after they protested soaring food prices. Elsewhere in Indonesia, over one hundred people were held after rioting in various towns. Deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights Marzuki Darusman discusses human rights violations related to these demonstrations and riots.

Question: Were there any violations of human rights committed during and after the spate of demonstrations and rioting?

Marzuki: The government is supposed to use different approaches to contain demonstrations and riots. Rioting was sparked by the scarcity and rising cost of foodstuff and had no political motivation. However demonstrations held in Jakarta and other cities demanding an improvement to the current situation from the government were loaded with political messages.

In the riots there were a number of human rights violations. Particularly affected were shopowners who were attacked by the mobs and weaker members of society who were unable to buy essential commodities.

If rioting is regarded as a criminal act, security officers may have treated the rioters accordingly when restoring order. There were a number of casualties reported and the National Commission on Human Rights has sent teams to investigate whether or not there were human rights violations perpetrated by security officers.

In dealing with demonstrations of a political nature, security officers should not have prevented demonstrators from expressing their aspirations. Instead, they should have assisted the demonstrators in conveying their message to the House of Representatives and the People's Consultative Assembly.

We are also trying to determine whether authorities have violated the law when dealing with demonstrators. There are 125 people who have been detained without observance of the correct legal procedures by the Jakarta police.

Q: Do you see any improvement in the way the authorities handle demonstrators in terms of human rights protection?

M: There is an improvement in rhetorical statements. Former Armed Forces commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung said security officers should uphold the protection of human rights when dealing with demonstrations. Whether this statement has been put into practice is questionable.

After five successful MPR General Sessions, there should have been visible improvements in the political process and in security arrangements. However, reality shows that security measures in the run-up to next month's General Session have been intensified, giving the public an odd impression. The authorities should have been easing security despite the economic crisis.

Q: Why should the government take stern measures against rioters and demonstrators?

M: The government should have taken measures to allow the public to convey their political aspirations. The MPR only accommodates formal aspirations raised during last year's general election, while its members are ignoring the real and constantly developing aspirations of society. That is why public reactions to the monetary crisis are not being accommodated by the MPR.

Q: Does this mean that the authorities have violated the public's political rights?

M: It is more of a restriction of political rights rather than a violation. The authorities have restricted the public from expressing political opinions.

Q: Why has your commission not called on the government to become more open to the public's aspirations as a way to reduce tension?

M: Since November, the commission has repeatedly appealed to the government to listen to, or at least pretend to hear, public opinion. It can be difficult to convince the government that political aspirations naturally develop from time to time and cannot be restricted in a defensive way. The public is restricted from political expression by a number of prohibitions.

Q: Two non-governmental organization activists are reportedly missing. Have you found out their whereabouts?

M: No, we still don't know. If they are missing, it does not necessarily mean they have been killed. They might be in hiding.

Q: Were all those attacked by rioters people of Chinese descent, as reported in the press?

M: No. People from a number of different ethnic backgrounds were targeted.

Q: Did you find any correlation between the recent riots and the call from the Indonesian Ulemas Council for a jihad (holy war) against currency speculators and hoarders of essential commodities?

M: We have not investigated that. But such a simplistic call could very easily be misunderstood. If there is a relationship, the council should take moral responsibility.

The call has oversimplified the phenomenon because stockpiling of commodities could have resulted from poor sales at a time when buyers' purchasing power was declining or through their efforts to ensure that they had adequate supplies of goods to carry out trade. (riz)