Soeharto to open human rights workshop

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto will open a national workshop on human rights on Monday which will discuss the ratification of existing conventions and determine the scale of priority in handling human rights.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday the workshop will "direct discussions on human rights towards a more practical and constructive approach...instead of a more political approach."

The three-day workshop, a follow-up of the first one held in 1991, will be opened by President Soeharto at Istana Merdeka.

A number of government and non-government speakers are scheduled to give presentations at the workshop, among them outspoken rights advocate T. Mulya Lubis, political scientist Miriam Budiardjo and legislator Aisyah Amini.

Notable speakers from abroad will include John Pace from the UN Human Rights Center in Geneva, Brian Burdekin from the Australian Human Rights Commission and Quisumbing from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) regional office.

At the end of the workshop, a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation of human rights will be signed between the Indonesian government and the UN Human Rights Center.

Meanwhile Alatas said he will open another workshop on "Managing Potential Conflict in the South China Sea" in Bukittingi, West Sumatra, on Wednesday.

Alatas said Indonesia's hosting of this workshop is motivated by a desire to turn the potential of conflict in the area into cooperation.

He explained that the workshop is part of Indonesia's initiative to reduce conflict in the South China Sea caused by overlapping territorial claims.

Six countries -- Malaysia, China, Brunei, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan lay claim to the Spratly Islands located in the South China Sea.

Despite playing host for the fifth time, Alatas pointed out that the workshop is not meant to resolve the conflict directly and that the participants will all be attending in a private capacity.

"Indonesia does not propose any recipes for that (solution)," he said, adding that the workshop is meant as part of preventive diplomacy and confidence building measures.(mds)