T

he House of Representatives ratified on Tuesday a United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a move seen as an important step toward improving welfare for disabled people.

The convention stipulates, among others, that the state should take measures to prevent persons with disabilities from being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, ensure personal mobility and prohibit discrimination concerning all forms of employment.

Chairunnisa, deputy chairman of Commission VIII overseeing religious and social affairs, said that with Indonesia ratifying the convention, it was expected that there would be a similar view and understanding from all stakeholders to implement the convention to improve services for persons with disabilities.

“Although there are laws that guarantee and protect persons with disabilities, the reality is far from the expected. There are many rights that have yet to be implemented optimally, such as access to decent work, public services and equal treatment,” she said.

The convention, which was completed in just eight sessions of UN meetings, was signed in 2006. Indonesia was the ninth country out of the 82 countries that signed the convention in 2007. Despite the initial commitment in 2007, it took Indonesia four years to ratify the convention.

Chairunnisa said that the ratification had strategic values and represented a new dawn for national law reform, especially on fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities. She said that there were three important things the public should understand regarding the passing of the convention into law.

“First, there should be a legal certainty to safeguard the rights of persons with disabilities, as regulated in the law. Second, there should be planning on all aspects, from human resources to facilities to budget allocation to implement the law. Last, a preparedness of all stakeholders to implement the law,” she said.

Yusdiana, program manager of ASEAN General Election Network for Disability Access, said that the new law could be an entry point to revise the laws that did not support the rights of persons with disabilities, such as Transportation Law and Train Law.

“Many rights of persons with disabilities have yet to be fulfilled. For example, there is an article in the 1997 Law on Persons with Disabilities that stipulates that a company should employ at least one person with disabilities for every 100 employees. We have yet to experience that,” she said.

A similar opinion came from Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf al Jufri, who said that his ministry would soon file for a revision of the 1997 Law on Persons with Disabilities.

“We want to have a shift of paradigm in the law, from serving to protection,” Salim said.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that the new law would need supporting regulations, including government decrees, but added that the government was excited about welcoming the new law.

He said that the new law expressed Indonesia’s commitment to protect human rights, including persons with disabilities. He added that Indonesia was the 107th country to ratify the convention.

“Just like all developing countries, the challenges Indonesia will face in implementing the law include budgeting. But with the government’s commitment, we hope we can fulfill this in stages,” Marty said.

According to data from the UN, there are more than 1 billion persons with disabilities across the globe, or around 15 percent of the world’s population, with most persons with disabilities living in developing countries, including Indonesia.

After the plenary agreed to pass the convention into law, House deputy speaker Pramono Anung said that the House building should be equipped with facilities that supported the accessibility of persons with disabilities.

“It does not mean we will build a new building, but it’s about adding supporting facilities to the existing building,” he said.