Jakarta – Rights defense group Imparsial said Friday that human rights was little more than a government slogan last year and was likely to remain so. This was especially the case, they said, with the 2009 presidential elections drawing nearer.
Imparsial Executive Director Rachland Nashidik told a press conference that the government had failed to defend human rights, with many cases of alleged violations remaining unsettled.
Nevertheless, he said, loud claims by the government of upholding justice continued to be heard.
"When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office in 2004, he said that the death of human rights activist Munir was a test for our (Indonesian) history. However, three years have passed and we have yet to see the real perpetrators face charges."
Munir Said Thalib, who outspokenly criticized the Indonesian Military (TNI) for its alleged involvement in human rights violations in the troubled provinces of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Papua, was found dead on board a Garuda Indonesia flight on Sept. 7, 2004. A postmortem examination proved he died of arsenic poisoning.
Three suspects – former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, former Garuda President Indra Setiawan and Rohainil Aini, secretary to Garuda's chief pilot – have been brought to court.
However, families and activists say that even if those people were involved, they were not the principals behind the assassination.
Rachland said accountability in human rights cases depended heavily on political lobbying – who was behind the violations and whom the settlements would benefit the most.
"In this case, court institutions, which are supposed to be the ultimate refuge of justice, are also involved in ensuring that political lobbying works on behalf of the powerful."
He cited a session of the Munir murder trials in which a taped telephone conversation between suspect Pollycarpus and Indra was played. Seeming to reassure Indra in the face of the allegations – in the recording – Pollycarpus referred to the chief of the Supreme Court, Bagir Manan, as "our man".
The tape recording also highlighted the involvement of top State Intelligence Agency (BIN) officials, but none have been brought to court so far.
Rachland said this year the record on enforcement of human rights would be no different than last year. "As long as human rights violations are still perceived as political bargaining chips, human rights enforcement will not be possible."
Bhatara Ibnu Reza, research coordinator for Imparsial, worried there would be even more lip service paid to human rights this year ahead of the 2009 presidential election – without any action to follow.
"Political groups will run a lot of human rights campaigns to attract grassroots voters. But whether there will actually be any action or not depends on political interests."
As compared to human rights, he said that stability and security were just likely to interest voters from the middle to upper income brackets.
"Human rights enforcement is merely a show here. You already have the law – the 1945 Constitution – to uphold human rights. But our leaders lack determination to put that into practice," said Bhatara. (lln)