Rights body studies NZ

JAKARTA: Two members of the National Commission on Human Rights have just completed a comparative study on New Zealand's human rights.

Clementino Dos Reis Amaral and Bambang W. Suharto found that, unlike Indonesia's government-appointed commission which has 25 members, New Zealand's has six commissioners supported by 90 staff.

Amaral said they also had found that New Zealanders lodged complaints via modern telecommunications, while Indonesians had to meet the commission's staff in person.

The Indonesian commission was financed by the State Secretariat, while New Zealand's was funded by its Justice Department, Amaral said as reported by Antara.

"This shows that Indonesia is not the only country where the government financially supports its human rights body," he said. "The National Commission on Human Rights, therefore, can be trusted as an independent body like in New Zealand despite government financial support."

He said that members of New Zealand's human rights body were paid similar salaries to its legislators, ministers and even prime minister.