Red Cross symbol widely abused here

JAKARTA (JP): The emblem of the Red Cross, an internationally recognized symbol of neutrality, has been widely abused in Indonesia by certain parties as a protective shield, according to local Red Cross officials.

The International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) office here and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) called on the government yesterday to do more to regulate the use of the symbol in the country.

"According to the 1949 Geneva Convention and its additional 1977 protocols, the Red Cross symbol is protected by international law," ICRC's Indonesian office legal adviser Claudio Santorum said in a seminar on the use of the Red Cross emblem.

The seminar, jointly organized by ICRC, PMI and Jakarta's privately run Trisakti University, also drafted a document which will be forwarded to the government as a draft for a bill to regulate the use of the Red Cross symbol. The organizers said they hoped a law on the issue could be enacted in 1999.

"We are concerned about the abuses of the Red Cross symbol in Indonesia," PMI secretary-general Soesanto Mangoensadjito said, recalling that Indonesia had ratified the 1949 Geneva Convention regulating the use of the symbol.

The PMI is the only organization in Indonesia that has been given permission by the ICRC to use the emblem.

Soesanto said the Red Cross symbol had been used by some volunteers not affiliated with the PMI while providing medical assistance during the student occupation of the House of Representatives complex in May.

The myth that the emblem is an effective protective shield was destroyed when some protesters attacked PMI paramedics during the May riots, he added.

He cited examples of PMI cars being attacked while transporting paramedics to assist riot victims in Jakarta.

"This suggests a lack of regard for the Indonesian Red Cross."

Some observers said the attacks may have been symbolic gestures against Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, the daughter of former president Soeharto and PMI's chairwoman.

International law stipulates that the Red Cross emblem can only be used by officially recognized Red Cross societies, a military's medical services and religious workers.

Other speakers at the seminar yesterday included GPH Haryo Mataram, the head of Trisakti University's humanitarian law study center, and Tim McCormack of Melbourne University.

McCormack said Australia had already established a law regulating the use of the Red Cross symbol, adding that those found guilty of abusing the emblem were liable to a A$1,000 (Rp 7.8 million) fine. (01)