Working together to promote human rights

Benny YP Siahaan, Jakarta

The testimony of Suciwati, widow of human rights activist Munir, before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) at its 61st session in Geneva recently has certainly sparked public attention. In Geneva, Suciwati was accompanied by NGO compatriots such as Raffendi Jamin and others.

I personally was also present at this session, however I did not feel as if is was something extraordinary. Nonetheless, I was rather struck on reading reports of this meeting in the national press. To me, it seemed that this story was blown quite out of proportion and could cause the public to be misled.

Although the text of the testimony seemed very sensitive, the fact is that at the time it was being delivered it seemed as if nobody was listening to what Suciwati was saying, not only because her spoken English is a bit hard to understand, but also because the environment in the session was not conducive to conveying such testimony. Many participants in the room were chatting or busy with each other, this being common during NGO sessions. It's like a bazaar.

Every year UNCHR conducts sessions that deliberate 21 agenda items, which among other things addresses human rights situations in certain parts of the world. For each agenda item, NGOs get the chance to deliver statements for three minutes, after which member and observer states deliver their statements. Thus it is true, as stated by Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, that giving testimony on the Munir case in the Commission's session is not something extraordinary (The Jakarta Post, March 28, 2005). It is sad to say this, but speaker's words disappear into thin air at such meetings.

However, what was more striking was when I attended an informal side meeting organized by a coalition of Indonesian NGOs (Infid) during the current UNCHR session in Geneva. At that meeting I was surprised that many of the NGO participants were still of the view that little or nothing had changed in Indonesia; that the current changes at the national level were merely cosmetic.

According to one estimate, of the 13,500 NGOs registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs, 90 percent of them are dependent on foreign donor funding (Kompas, Jan. 13, 2003). However, this is understandable, as it is much easier for NGOs, especially human rights NGOs, to make funding proposals to foreign agencies rather than to convince Indonesian people to give them donations.

Nevertheless, whatever the situation is, it is time that NGOs change their approach in promoting and protecting human rights in Indonesia if they really want the human rights situation here to improve. Perhaps the reason why NGOs hold such perceptions is that they think they are the only stakeholders involved in promoting and protecting human rights. The question for me is, are they aware that there are also other stakeholders, and that they have to work together? Or maybe they just disregard the others deliberately because they are afraid that their role and recognition will be eroded if other stakeholders, especially from the government side, start getting involved.

With authoritarian Soeharto regime now gone, and with many positive reforms being made, it is now the turn of NGOs to reflect on progress in the protection and human rights at the national level and to work together with other national stakeholders. Indeed, we should commend positive developments in this regard, such as the involvement of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) in the preparation of the drafting of the law on Truth and Reconciliation Commission last year.

Looking back at the Munir case, it is clear that he was a significant campaigner for human rights deserving of great respect. Indeed, Indonesia has lost one of its finest sons in the field of promoting and protecting human rights. But to bring to justice the perpetrators of his assassination is one thing; handling his "life" after his death is another.

His death should be used as an opportunity for all stakeholders in the field of human rights to work together more closely to bring the perpetrators of human rights crimes to justice.

The writer works at the directorate of human rights, humanitarian and socio-cultural, Foreign Ministry, Jakarta. The views expressed are strictly personal." He can be reached at benny_siahaan2003@yahoo.com.