Rights abuses remain widespread: Imparsial

Rights abuses remain widespread: Imparsial

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A report released on Monday by a human rights watchdog said that
human rights abuses perpetrated by the state continued to be
widespread over the past year, with the government still placing
heavy emphasis on security while denying people their civil
rights.

Rights group Imparsial said that the governments of both
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessor Megawati
Soekarnoputri had adopted policies and issued regulations that
threatened civil liberties.

The two administrations also inflicted violence on civilians
in the name of advancing government policy, it added.

Citing examples, Impartial highlighted such cases as the
imposition of a state of emergency in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam,
the carrying out of death sentences, the increasing power of the
National Intelligence Agency (BIN), violence against human rights
defenders, and military and police brutality.

The group recorded that the extended emergency in Aceh, which
started in May 2003, had resulted in 428 incidences of violence
against civilians, including murder (92 cases), torture (222
cases), unlawful arrest (55 cases) and disappearances (59 cases).

As for the death penalty, which was handed down mostly in drug
cases last year, Imparsial said that it was a betrayal of
citizens' constitutional rights.

"The death penalty is merely a political tool as the
government wants to look firm and strict by imposing it. But it's
totally against human rights," Imparsial director Rachland
Nashiddik told a year-end media conference in Jakarta.

The watchdog also criticized the increasing involvement of the
National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in the legal field, which it
said was to blame for the increase in the incidence of repression
against civilians, especially in remote regions.

Such cases included BIN's ban on two overseas nationals
working with the World Bank from attending a seminar held in East
Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, to discuss efforts to improve
the mechanisms for settling land and other disputes at the
village level, Impartial said.

Closely related to this, it said, was the Indonesian Military
Law (TNI) enacted in 2004, which maintained intact the military's
territorial command structure -- something that has raised public
concern.

Another major case featured in the report was last year's
murder of Munir, a co-founder of Impartial and former director of
the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence
(Kontras).

Imparsial said that aside from the Munir case, at least 165
local human rights activists had fallen victim to various abuses,
such as murder, detention, assault/torture, sexual harassment,
threats and intimidation.

Such cases occurred not only in conflict areas but right
across the country, it added.

"If the state treats human rights defenders with disdain, the
question of protecting human beings becomes a very worrying one.
If such cases can happen to high profile activists, what can
happen to ordinary civilians?" asked Imparsial activist Pungky
Indarti.

The group also highlighted many cases of violence inflicted by
police on protesters in the report.

Imparsial called 2004 the year of police brutality, citing as
examples violence inflicted on demonstrators protesting against
the Supreme Court and residents in Bogor, West Java, protesting
against the opening of the Bojong waste treatment plant.

However, Rachland said it was too early to judge Susilo's
administration based on these cases.

"But since he came up with the 100-day program, it's fair to
say that he's no different from his predecessor. He should have
been able to institute a balance between the public's right to
security and the public's right to liberty," he said.

Instead, the state had positioned security above all else in
order to maintain its power and stranglehold over the people,
Rachland declared.