Whither human rights?

Marking Human Rights Day today as we do every Dec. 10, we in Indonesia have every reason to feel concerned about where we, as a nation, stand in our commitment to upholding the letter and spirit of 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

All the evidence throughout the year suggests that as a national political agenda, human rights have not only been put on the back burner, but we seem to have even abandoned all earlier efforts at setting our human rights record straight.

The bomb attacks in Bali in October have complicated the human rights situation. In launching its campaign against terror after the Bali tragedy, the government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri has not only relegated human rights from the national agenda, but it may even have forsaken human rights principles.

Official rhetoric aside, Indonesia's human rights record looks particularly appalling this year.

There have been more human rights atrocities committed across the archipelago, particularly in conflict zones like Maluku, Aceh, Papua and the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso. What is particularly disturbing is that many of these violations are increasingly being committed by non-state entities.

The government and its security forces no longer have a monopoly claim to being the worst human rights offenders. The reports we hear from many conflict zones suggest that private individuals and organizations can be just as cruel and barbaric.

The Bali bombings that left nearly 200 people dead must count among the worst forms of violations of people's basic rights in Indonesia in 2002. The perpetrators, whoever they might be, have not only inflicted damage on the victims and their relatives, but also on the rest of the nation, who now have to live in fear that terrorists could attack them anywhere anytime.

If we treat the Bali tragedy as a gross violation of human rights, there is no reason to see the campaign against terror as incompatible with the national human rights agenda. On the contrary, the two should be complimentary, and could even be pursued simultaneously, without one being sidelined by the other.

The Bali tragedy is an example of how our government has failed in its duty to provide adequate protection for the people, Indonesians and foreigners alike. The constant killings and murders in various conflict zones are other examples of where the government is failing in its duty to guarantee the people of their basic rights, including the right to life, and the right to live in peace and free from fear.

The year started on an optimistic note with the establishment by the government of the human rights ad hoc tribunal to try those responsible for past human rights abuses. But most of the trials held to date have been disappointing.

All the top military and police officers brought before the tribunal for their alleged role in the 1999 mayhem in East Timor were acquitted. A handful of pro-Indonesia East Timorese were convicted, but they got off lightly. Eurico Guterres, the former militia leader, for example, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for a crime against humanity. This is a far cry from justice and a gross insult to our sense of right and wrong considering that the law stipulates a minimum sentence of 11 years.

There are no signs that any of the top officers who conducted the military campaign in Aceh between 1991 and 1998, a period during which rights atrocities are well documented, will be brought to trial. There cannot be any real peace in Aceh as long as those responsible for these rights violations are allowed to roam free.

Impunity, in short, is still the rule in Indonesia. And because people rarely get punished, they will not hesitate to do the same thing again, and what is more, other people will be encouraged to take the same path. As long as impunity remains the norm, we can expect human rights violations to escalate in the coming years.

External pressures on the government to set Indonesia's human rights record straight have also ebbed this year, with counterterrorism now taking center stage in international diplomacy.

In the past, external pressures played a significant albeit not the most important, role in pushing the government to respect universal human rights principles. Now, we can no longer count on outside help to exert the necessary pressure on our government to get its human rights act together.

At the end of the day, it is up to those of us who are concerned about civil society to put human rights back on the front burner of the national agenda where it truly belong. This is a battle that we Indonesians have to wage by ourselves for the sake of our own future. The year 2002 may seem gloomy, but we must not relent in our fight. Most of all, we must not lose hope.