Soesilo's rights body remarks spark comment

JAKARTA (JP): Maj. Gen. (ret) Samsudin, one of the four newest members of the National Commission on Human Rights, concurred with a government official's recent criticism that the commission overstepped its boundary.

Samsudin admitted yesterday that the commission has, as stated by Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman, been directly involved in settling disputes rather than merely monitoring possible rights violations and issuing recommendations on action to be taken.

"It's true. The commission has been doing some 'operational' works," he told The Jakarta Post yesterday. However, he said that the poor performance of some relevant government agencies was one of the reasons why the rights commission had to do more than its prescribed job.

"It happened because many institutions failed to function," he said, without elaborating.

Soesilo opened the second National Workshop on Human Rights here Wednesday, warning the rights commission for overstepping its boundaries and telling it to stick to its mission.

"There is an impression, still in need of verification, that the National Commission on Human Rights has been 'operationally' involved in legal disputes," Soesilo then said.

Samsudin pointed out that the commission has been doing a good job handling controversial cases, such as the slaying of labor activist Marsinah and journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, and the killing of villagers in Liquisa, East Timor by Armed Forces members.

He said people's trust in the commission is steadily growing, as shown by the increasing number of people requesting its help.

Samsudin, however, chose not to see Soesilo's remarks as criticism. Rather, it's advice. "The commission has to receive it as an input to improve its performance," he said.

He also suggested that the commission start focusing more on its strategic mission, namely monitoring rights violations, rather than being involved in "small jobs" which Soesilo described as "operational work".

Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association told the Post separately yesterday that Soesilo was not being objective when he made the remarks.

"He was emotional," Luhut said, adding that the commission has actually met the hopes of people in need of help because their rights were violated.

"The commission's success in many of its tasks has earned it a prestigious position in the community," he said. "The government should have praised the commission, rather than rapping it on the knuckles."

"The government serves the people. If the commission also serves the community well, it should be praised, shouldn't it?" he said. "If it functions well, reward it."

Meanwhile, commission member Albert Hasibuan said at the workshop yesterday that the multitude of reports on rights violations that the public filed with the commission is a testimony of the body's credibility.

"Follow-up actions, however, should be conducted by the other relevant institutions," he said. (03)