W. Sumatra gets rights office

PADANG, West Sumatra: The National Commission on Human Rights opened a branch office here Saturday at a ceremony officiated by Zainal Bakar, secretary of the West Sumatra provincial administration.

Antara said the ceremony was attended by Clementino Dos Reis Amaral, the secretary general of the rights commission, and Rudini, former Home Affairs Minister.

Amaral said the setting up of the institute in West Sumatra was aimed at expanding the human rights network across the country. Although West Sumatra was the third province to have such a institute after East Timor and Aceh, this did not mean that human rights violations in the province were rampant, he said.

"The number of human rights violations in West Sumatra is relatively small, or even smaller than that of land disputes," Amaral said.

The presence of a human rights institute in each province was imperative to maintain resilience and unity under the principles of mutual respect and universal values, he said.

He said the institute's aim was not to act as a perennial critic of the regional administration but to serve as the latter's working partner.

"On the other hand, although the institute is a working partner of the government, it does not mean it must follow the latter's will," he said.