Jakarta – Activists have called on local authorities across Indonesia to ensure that regional bylaws and regulations respect human rights and diversity, in the wake of the recent burning of a church by Muslim hard-liners in Aceh province.

Nurkhoiron, a member of the central government's National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said on Wednesday that decentralization had given local authorities greater power to run their jurisdictions, but that they were not using this newly vested power responsibly enough with regards to catering to the rights and freedoms of their constituents."The power to govern is no longer centralized with the central government. Regional governments have more power and responsibility in running their areas, including in the human rights aspect," he said.

Nurkhoiron said Komnas HAM had in the past three years received an increasing number of complaints about alleged human rights violations encouraged or permitted through controversial local bylaws and regulations.

Zainal Abidin, from the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), said it was important for regional governments to be able to address the human rights issues specific to their jurisdictions without the need for the central government to weigh in.

"Just take a look at the Aceh Singkil case," he said, referring to a district in the staunchly Muslim province of Aceh where hard-liners burned down a church last month and authorities demolished several others on the pretext that they lacked the necessary permits.

"If the Aceh Singkil district administration could have taken care of the problem properly, it would have been resolved much sooner," Zainal said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/local-governments-urged-respect-rights-diversity/