Rights body's counsel
Rights body's counsel
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) submitted
a four-point list of recommendations to President Soeharto on
Jan. 16. The commission's Secretary-General Baharuddin Lopa last
week summarized the organization's tentative conclusions
regarding the recent outbreaks of unrest in certain areas in this
country.
"Our tentative conclusion is that the unrest was triggered by
feelings of dissatisfaction which have been growing in our
society for too long, finally triggering security disturbances in
a number of places in our country.
"The reasons, among other things, are the prevalence of social
and economic disparities, while job opportunities remain limited
and constant and the work force continues to grow in numbers."
Baharuddin's remarks do not digress from the four
recommendations presented by the commission to President
Soeharto. In brief, those recommendations incorporate better
protection for the economically weak among the population;
affirmation of the supremacy of the law and the judiciary;
sustenance of political communication, and an urgent and
fundamental reform of the state administration and apparatus.
As President Soeharto regretfully remarked, however, why did
those outbreaks of unrest and social upheavals occur at this
precise moment, when our economy is getting ready for take-off?
All this makes us feel awkward and raises the question: what have
the three branches of state power (legislative, executive and
judicial) been doing in the past couple of decades? Another, more
crucial, question is: what kind of counsel has the Supreme
Advisory Council (DPA) been giving Soeharto all this time?
Before there was a Republic of Indonesia, or a colonial
Netherlands East Indies administration -- or even before there
were the ancient kingdoms of Mataram, Majapahit or Sriwijaya --
our people were already here. And once those kingdoms disappeared
-- including the Netherlands East Indies administration, which
collapsed after ruling for three-and-a-half centuries -- the
Indonesian people remained and will always remain.
Therefore, it is the Indonesian people who hold the birthright
over their country -- not the governments of Majapahit,
Sriwijaya, or (King) Amangkurat. This is the correct way to
interpret (the state ideology) Pancasila and the Constitution. If
we should make an erroneous interpretation of the Constitution,
then -- whatever we do -- we will only be sowing seed and reaping
weeds.
-- Merdeka, Jakarta