'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)