Erwida Maulia and Ari Hermawan, Jakarta – The country faces yet another tough year in 2009 in promoting human rights, with the issue of elections likely to drown out all others on the national scene, the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) warned Tuesday.
YLBHI chairman Patra M. Zen said at a press conference that unresolved rights violations cases throughout 2008 would set a bad precedent for efforts to uphold basic rights this year.
Patra was referring to, among others, the recent acquittal of former top spy Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono of all charges in the murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib, and the interminable delay in compensation payments for victims of the Lapindo mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java.
"Rights issues will be put aside and submerged amid the public uproar ahead of the polls, starting from the legislative election on April 9. Political parties will only talk about human rights in their political jargon or as a tool to help boost their image," Patra said.
However, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told a press briefing the recent verdict exonerating Muchdi would not tarnish Indonesia's image at the international level.
"So far we have not received any statement of concern or apprehension from any party over Muchdi's acquittal. This has not been a problem because legal matters are entirely a domestic affair," he said.
But Patra insisted Indonesia's failure to settle past gross human rights abuses allegedly involving some of the country's top politicians could exacerbate the progress made in upholding human rights principles in the country.
The failure to put rights criminals in prison, he went on, meant they would stand a greater chance of retaining control over the country and thus shielding themselves from possible criminal investigations related to the rights abuse cases.
In a report distributed to the media, the YLBHI said that throughout 2008, the government successfully put out more regulations than in the previous year, but noted some of these, including the election laws, the electronic information and transaction law, the education legal entity law and the anti-pornography law, could potentially threaten individual rights.
The report also said the police and prosecutors office were the two state institutions most complained about to the legal aid institute for alleged minor rights abuses, while the Constitutional Court and the National Commission on Human Rights were among the most trusted institutions in 2008.
The report also named several departments as causing "impediments" to rights efforts in Indonesia, including the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, the Attorney General's Office, the Public Works Ministry, the Health Ministry, the House of Representatives, courts and the Foreign Ministry.
Patra also praised the government for finally allocating 20 percent of the state budget to education in 2009, but warned of poor implementation.
"We suspect the increased budget is mostly to improve the image of the current government. For instance, it may spend only a little to reconstruct school buildings, but much more to advertise its action," Patra said.