Reflecting on rights body's success

Hak Asasi Manusia Dalam Persepektif Budaya Indonesia (Human

Rights in the Perspective of Indonesian Culture)

PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama in cooperation with the National

Commission on Human Rights and The Asia Foundation, 1997

xx and 313 pages

JAKARTA (JP): Many people greeted with cynicism the birth of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnasham) in late 1993. They doubted its independence because its establishment was based on a presidential decree.

The presumption has proven wrong. The commission showed in its first two years of existence that it could be critical not only of the executive which had given birth to it, but also of the security authorities. It exposed several controversial incidents and brought cases to the military tribunal of those "acting beyond the military operational procedures".

Liquisa in East Timor and Amungme in Irian Jaya, to name just two cases, have shown that the commission is one of the places where people can register complaints about human rights violations. The commission has in a relatively short time taken over the advocacy function usually identified with non- governmental organizations.

This book is a compilation of reports from a seminar held by the commission in late 1995. As far as the papers published in the book are concerned, discourses on human rights have not shown any new development. They place human rights as part of the history of thoughts of Indonesia's nationalist movement, viewed from cultural and religious perspectives.

The elements of human rights are studied as far as they are recorded in Indonesian law. Human rights are also viewed from the economic viewpoint. A discussion like this has repeatedly taken place here through scientific and popular writings in several mass media.

The last section of the book holds its own attraction. It deals with the presentation by the commission's secretary- general, Baharuddin Lopa, on the organization's performance in its first two years. A senior non-governmental organization figure, Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, comments on this presentation.

Lopa said the commission received 2,360 letters of complaints in 1994 and 2,918 in 1995. The commission handled 343 cases in 1994 and 421 in the next year.

Commission members acted as speakers or resource advisers in 241 forums in Indonesia.

The figures say a lot. The presence of the commission has been a godsend to many people, and its members are considered helpers who assist people out of their trouble.

The table above shows that the commission's implementation of its advocacy function has risen by more than 10 percent on average. The commission's administrative response to the complaints through case handling had risen by only 3.31 percent.

Should this be taken as an indication the commission's potential is untapped in handling of this administrative matter? While complaints lodged went far above 10 percent, the commission could only handle 3 percent of the total.

The commission has recently encountered several difficulties in settling cases of human rights violations. It is not clear, however, what criteria is used to say the handling of a case is completed. Take for example the Marsinah case, which is still under police investigation, or the violent takeover of the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). The authorities have apparently turned a deaf ear on the recommendations.

This is a dilemma for an institution like Komnasham. It has no authority to execute a decision on a particular case, or at least bring a case of human rights violation to court. At best, it can come up with recommendations, which the executive or security branches are free to heed or ignore.

This suggests that it is still difficult for the Commission to find solutions to problems of human rights violations as they relate to the existing political structure.

Nevertheless, the commission has turned to be a new control institution. It is still a moot point whether it can serve as the most effective institution for the settlement of human rights problems. It has put itself in the ranks of other institutions assigned to exercise control over such a huge executive power: the press, the legislature, non-governmental organizations, political parties and others.

Despite its limitations, Komnasham will likely contribute towards the creation of a more transparent political structure, and perhaps even democratization, although this may be too high an ideal. Whether the public will continue to place its trust in the commission in future will largely depend on its own performance.

-- Ignatius Haryono

The reviewer is chairman of the Institute of the Study of the Press and Development, Jakarta.