Yusril: Human Rights Must Form the Basis of Development Policy

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra has stressed that human rights must serve as the foundation for development policy. “Human rights must not be placed as a mere complement in the development agenda, but must be present from the policy planning stage, decision-making, implementation, through to the evaluation of state policy,” Yusril said in Jakarta on Wednesday. He therefore expressed appreciation to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for launching its 2025 annual report on Monday (6/7). Yusril expressed hope that the report would become a foothold for strengthening justice, enhancing state accountability, improving public policy, and advancing human rights protection for all Indonesian people. According to him, Komnas HAM’s annual report is not merely a formal accountability document of a state institution, but also serves as a space for the public to assess the implementation of the human rights mandate in Indonesia, while providing evaluation material for the government to improve policies sustainably. Yusril emphasised that human rights are not a gift or an act of generosity from the state to the people. “The state does not create human rights, but is obliged to recognise, respect, protect, fulfil, uphold, and advance them,” he said. He stated that the theme of the Komnas HAM 2025 Annual Report, “Upholding Justice, Encouraging State Accountability,” is relevant to the needs of a state based on the rule of law. Justice and accountability, he continued, cannot be separated, because justice without accountability will only become a promise, while accountability without an orientation towards justice may stop at being an administrative procedure. The most frequently reported issues relate to the right to welfare, followed by the right to obtain justice and the right to a sense of security. Yusril said these figures should not be read merely as statistics, because behind every complaint there is a person, a family, and a community who feel their rights have not been protected. He acknowledged that human rights issues are currently increasingly complex. Issues of welfare, agrarian conflict, civil liberties, digital transformation, protection of vulnerable groups, and the accountability of state apparatus, he said, cannot be resolved through sectoral approaches that operate in isolation. Yusril argued that national development remains important for driving economic growth, investment, infrastructure, food security, energy, and industrial downstreaming, but development must not be pitted against. “Development that respects human rights will actually have stronger legitimacy, better social resilience, and more sustainable benefits,” said Yusril. He also highlighted the importance of following up on Komnas HAM’s recommendations. These recommendations must not stop as inter-agency correspondence documents, but must be translated into clear work agendas with designated responsible parties, measurable timeframes, and objective monitoring mechanisms.