Security plan 'must protect rights'

Security plan 'must protect rights'

JAKARTA (JP): Human rights activists expressed their alarm at
the implications of human rights protection of the Armed Forces'
stern plans to crack down on possible disturbances during March's
plenary meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Marzuki Darusman of the National Commission on Human Rights
said the Armed Forces' determination to secure the meeting should
not disregard the importance of human rights protection.

"The commission will send a letter to the Armed Forces
concerning this matter," Marzuki told journalists.

He said the commission regards such a letter necessary as the
commission has a great interest in creating a conducive
atmosphere toward the advancement and protection of human rights.

"Armed Forces Commander's (Gen. Feisal Tanjung) statement
could deliver the wrong impression of human rights protection,"
he said.

Feisal said Monday commanders and top officials of the Armed
Forces will meet next month in Jakarta to map out a contingency
plan against disturbances during the plenary meeting of the MPR
in March.

The 1,000-strong assembly in March will elect a new president
and vice president and endorse the State Policy Guidelines.

When pressed to elaborate on the possible threats to the
assembly, Feisal said: "We will crack down on any anti-government
movements."

Marzuki said Feisal's remark worried the National Commission
on Human Rights who feared it could affect the promotion and
advancement of human rights in Indonesia.

"(The Armed Forces) should try its best to manage what it is
saying," Marzuki said.

"The statement should be more polite... I think polite words
would be more effective," he said.

Universal

Marzuki also said yesterday the National Commission on Human
Rights would not respond to the Foundation of the Indonesian
Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI)'s year-end human rights evaluation.

In the evaluation, YLBHI said members of the National
Commission on Human Rights had yet to agree on whether human
rights was a universal concept or unique to different societies.

Marzuki, Baharuddin Lopa, Miriam Budiardjo and Nurcholish
Madjid were among the commission's members who believed in a
universality of the concept, while Muladi said a country's social
and cultural interest should precede human rights implementation.

"Institutionally, the commission will not give an official
statement concerning this matter as the document was not directed
to the commission," Marzuki said.

"What I can say is that the members who were mentioned (in the
evaluation) should respond in their individual capacity," said
Marzuki.

But Marzuki said that since the Vienna Declaration in 1993,
the debate between "western human rights and "eastern human
rights" no longer exists. (10)