U.S. senator impressed with RI's rights commission

JAKARTA (JP): United States Senator Craig Thomas is currently visiting Indonesia to gain a better understanding of the political system and human rights practices here.

Senator Thomas and his delegation visited the National Commission for Human Rights yesterday and was met by commission members, led by chairman Munawir Sjadzali.

Later he said he was "very impressed" with the commission's work.

"All of us are very impressed with how the rights commission works here, and the independence it has. We are also interested with the authority the commission has to implement its findings," he said.

"And part of that whole change that we hope we'll be able to assist...is human rights, which is an important part of our society and our constitution. So we've come to discuss with the commission what they are doing," said the U.S. senator from Wyoming.

During his visit, Thomas was also scheduled to meet with President Soeharto and foreign minister Ali Alatas.

Senator Thomas, who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Rim, said the overall purpose of his visit was "to learn more about what's going on here".

"Obviously we're very interested in the economics, in the security of the region, in the leadership that Indonesia is taking on with respect to ASEAN and others," he said.

Relations between Jakarta and Washington, while overall amiable, have gone through a rough patch in the past few months with strong criticism from individual senators and congressmen on human rights issues.

Strategy

Senator Thomas' arrival is part of the Indonesian government's strategy to allow a better dissemination of information on the true conditions in the country.

Thomas is accompanied by nine other delegates from the Center for Democracy, a nonprofit foundation based in Washington D.C. It was created in the U.S. in 1985 to promote and strengthen the democratic process worldwide.

The meeting between Thomas and the commission yesterday appeared to touch a wide variety of issues prevalent in Indonesia today.

"We talked more about the process...as we (the United States) move forward in other kinds of relationships with Indonesia or other ASEAN countries and the whole Pacific rim...there are concerns of human rights.

"And concerns about Timor, concerns about political parties, and all those things, and so we need to be as familiar with those things as we can, and what your government is doing about them," Thomas said.

"These are concerns in our congress, and people bring them up constantly, and we're concerned about them...so we are here in order to become more knowledgeable about them. And in order to do that, we need to know more about what's going on with human rights, because people in my country are interested in the issue as much as you are here," Thomas said.

PDI

Separately, National Commission for Human Rights deputy chairman, Marzuki Darusman, told reporters after the meeting that the senator's delegation also asked the commission about problems facing the Indonesian Democratic Party.

"We told the delegation there was an impression that there had been pressure placed on the party by the government, but it shouldn't be seen as something separate from the party's own internal conflict, which also affected the party's performance in the last election," Marzuki said.

He said that explanation was also given to the events surrounding the July 27 riots last year.

Marzuki lauded the visit as "very useful" in creating a better understanding of Indonesia and what it has achieved despite "its shortcomings". (aan)