'Rights abuses foster anti-govt feelings'
'Rights abuses foster anti-govt feelings'
SEMARANG (JP): The government's failure to protect human
rights and reduce social inequalities is leading to the emergence
of anti-government attitudes and movements, observers commented
yesterday.
Political scientist Novel Ali of the Diponegoro University and
legislator Ircham Abdurrochim agreed that better protection of
human rights is needed in order to prevent such attitudes from
growing.
"This (improvement in human rights protection) is a strategic
approach to stem anti-government feeling," Novel Ali said.
"Everybody, but especially the government, should strive to
counter such attitudes and movements," Ircham said, adding that
what lies at stake is national development itself.
Rampant anti-government attitudes or movements may disturb
development, he said.
"Every element of political infra and superstructures should
be geared to deal with various social, political, economic, and
security problems..which are the embryo of an anti-government
attitude," Ircham said.
The two observers were responding to Minister of Defense and
Security Edi Sudradjat's recent statement about the increased
activities of anti-government movements, both here and abroad.
Using issues such as human rights and democratization, the
anti-government groups have been accelerating their campaign to
discredit the government.
The campaign, Edi said, is growing and fast becoming a fad.
"Even fighting against the establishment is seen by some
parties as a symbol of maturity," Edi said.
According to Edi, the campaign can be countered by, among
other things, making a consistent effort to improve social
conditions, thus eliminating the "leeway" which can be exploited.
Novel Ali said that without a continuous effort to improve the
country's record on human rights, it would be difficult to
eliminate anti-government attitudes or to prevent them from
developing.
He named several other causes of anti-government campaigns,
including discrepancies in the government's treatment of various
social groups.
"Discrimination...hurts some people because they feel as if
they are being neglected by the government," Novel said.
In addition, lack of transparency in the fields of social,
political and economic development will also facilitate anti-
government attitudes, he said.
The most important factor, however, is the government's
failure to promote the people's participation in various decision
making processes.
"This will be aggravated further if people see officials
taking advantage of a situation to enrich themselves or their
group," he said.
Ircham, who is a member of the United Development Party,
supported Novel, saying that the first step is to acknowledge the
many social, economic and political problems that are causing and
fostering the growth of anti-government attitudes. (har/swe)