Rights body studies NZ

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.