Rights commission armed with independence

Rights commission armed with independence

In conjunction with Human Rights Day, which falls today, The
Jakarta Post runs the following article on the National
Commission on Human Rights and its role in the effort to improve
human rights condition in Indonesia. Two more stories appear on
Page 7.

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations defines human rights as those
rights which are inherent in our nature and without which we
cannot live as human beings.

Human rights is a serious matter, but what can you really
expect from a human rights commission whose office is only a
rented building and whose members are not always there for you?

It seems quite a lot. The physical constraints have not
prevented members of Indonesia's National Commission on Human
Rights from carrying carry out their duty. The commission even
stunned the public last year with their findings in the murder of
labor activist Marsinah. The director of the company where the
victim worked, as well as several other people, were being tried
when the commission's secretary general Baharuddin Lopa announced
that there were probably other suspects.

The East Java district court and the high court found the
defendants guilty, but they were later exonerated by the Supreme
Court. So far, the police have not been able to find the real
murderers.

The Marsinah case is one of the commission's achievements.
Despite initial public skepticism over its role in improving
human rights conditions in Indonesia, the commission members have
proven their integrity.

"People were skeptical. They thought we were yes-men," B.N.
Marbun, a commission member, said recently.

Public skepticism was understandable, given the background of
its establishment.

The issue of human rights started to emerge and become a hot
issue here after the 1991 Dili riots, 43 years after the
Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in a General Assembly
resolution on Dec. 10, 1948.

According to official figures, dozens of civilians were killed
or went missing in a clash between the people and the military in
the capital of East Timor.

Strong criticism was launched against the government
concerning the handling of the Dili case. Human rights activists
from both inside and outside Indonesia condemned the incident,
calling upon the government to show more respect for human
rights.

In response to the call and to improve human rights conditions
in the country, President Soeharto set up the National Commission
on Human Rights on June 7, 1993. Former chief justice Ali Said
was appointed chairman and authorized to choose 24 members for
the commission. They were inaugurated on Dec. 10, 1993.

Independent

The public gave a warm welcome to the establishment of the
commission even though many were skeptical about its
independence. Soon, public anxiety disappeared as the commission
members demonstrated their determination to promote human rights.

Another member, Brig. Gen. (ret.) Roekmini Koesoema Astoeti,
gave assurances of the commission's independence, saying that the
commission is free from any outside influence, including the
President.

"We are fully independent. We report our findings to the
President but we are not accountable to the President. The
commission is accountable to the people," Roekmini said.

To maintain its independence, the commission has refused to
accept foreign aid, Marbun added.

Cases never seem to stop flowing in to the commission's
office. From January last year to mid October, the commission has
dealt with more than 5,200 cases. Most of them involved land
conflicts, labor cases, and abuses of power by government
officials and members of the Armed Forces.

However, not all of them were settled by the commission.
Roekmini said that the commission could only handle 20 percent of
the cases. They could not handle the rest because they were being
processed in court, fell into the category of civil cases, or
were not human rights cases.

Every day, there are people who come to the commission to
lodge their complaints. Some of them hand over letters of
complaints and leave after the staff members assure them that the
commission would examine the case. Others, however, insist on
seeing the commission members, even though this could mean they
have to wait for hours.

There are no requirements for commission members to be at the
office all the time. However, there are times when the office is
empty because its members are busy with their own activities.

"But we know how to reach them. So, if none of them are here
when there are people who want to see them, we can just call any
commission member who is free," a staff member told The Jakarta
Post.

Commission member Bambang W. Soeharto said he had no
difficulties in communicating with the other members, thanks to
electronic technology.

"We use telephones, fax machines and we might use the
Internet, too," Bambang said.

The commission holds a monthly plenary meeting and a
coordinating meeting once every two months.

"Well, one or two members are not really active, but they say
they pray for our activities. That's good enough," said Bambang,
a former member of the People's Consultative Assembly who was
elected last month as chairman of Kosgoro, a cooperatives'
organization.

In some cases, the commission is able to settle problems
through correspondence. In other cases, they invite the disputed
parties to come together to discuss their problem. The commission
members also conduct on-site investigations in certain cases.

Timika

The Marsinah case was not the commission's biggest event.

Last month, the commission investigated the alleged human
rights violations in Timika, Irian Jaya. They announced that 16
civilians were killed and four others missing during various
military operations in Irian Jaya over the past year.

"The National Commission on Human Rights expresses its deepest
regret and apprehension at these violations of human rights
conducted by the security apparatus, even though they occurred in
the line of duty," the commission said in a statement on the
Timika case.

In September, they went to Dili to investigate the wave of
ethnic and religious violence which hit the East Timor capital.

The commission does not seem to have any problems in
investigating cases which are considered sensitive, like ethnic
and religious conflicts, or those involving the military.

"The commission can be accepted by all parties because of the
integrity of its members," Marbun claimed.

Currently, there are only 23 people in the commission. One
commission member died last year and another died earlier this
year.

Even though the commission was set up by President Soeharto,
the commission has the authority to choose its members.

However, it has found it difficult to find the right persons
willing to fill in the two vacant positions.

According to Bambang, Maria Soemardjono, a professor of law at
the University of Gajah Mada, Yogyakarta, was asked to join the
commission, but she could not accept the offer because she was
busy with her job as dean of the university's school of law and
expert staff of the National Land Agency.

The commission is dominated by academicians, namely, Prof.
Muladi, rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro University; Prof.
Satjipto Rahardjo from the same university; Prof. Charles
Himawan, dean of the School of Law, University of Indonesia;
Prof. Miriam Budiardjo, also from the University of Indonesia;
Prof. Sri Soemantri from Padjadjaran University in Bandung; and
Prof. Soetandijo Wignjosoebroto from University of Airlangga in
Surabaya.

There are also members of the House of Representatives:
Marbun, Clementino Dos Reis Amaral and Aisyah Amini, and former
parliament members Marzuki Darusman, Albert Hasibuan, A.A.
Baramuli and Bambang Soeharto. The remaining are former supreme
court justices Djoko Soegianto and Soegiri, Moslem scholar
Nurcholis Madjid, Minister of Religious Affairs Munawir Sjadzali,
NGO activist Asmara Nababan, Sjarifudin Bahar, a expert staff at
the office of the State Secretary/Minister and lawyer Gani
Djemat.

Roekmini is a former member of the House of Representatives,
while Baharuddin Lopa is the director general of Correctional
Affairs for the Ministry of Justice.

When the commission started its activities late in 1993, it
occupied space in the office of the Directorate General of
Correctional Institution. Last month, they moved to a rented
office on Jl. Pemuda, East Jakarta, following Lopa's retirement.

The government is renovating a building on Jl. Latuharhary,
Central Jakarta, which will be the commission's permanent office.

The commission's annual budget is less than Rp 1.2 billion
(US$525,000), which is taken from the state budget.

"It would be great if the government could double the budget.
But, we understand the government's limitations. What we need to
do is to do our best with the limited budget we have," Bambang
said.

It seems that the commission's future tasks are more than just
handling human rights violations. Finding people willing to serve
the commission and obtaining a bigger budget to enhance its
activities are now part of its tasks. It is a serious institution
that deserves serious attention.