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Chance for candidates to show stance on rights
Candidates competing in the July 2014 presidential election will have an opportunity to explain to voters their positions on major human rights issues thanks to a new survey, an international non-governmental organization (INGO) has said
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andidates competing in the July 2014 presidential election will have an opportunity to explain to voters their positions on major human rights issues thanks to a new survey, an international non-governmental organization (INGO) has said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), an INGO that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, said that it had distributed a questionnaire to likely presidential candidates on March 21, giving them nine questions on the country's most pressing human rights concerns.
HRW will release responses received by the survey's May 16 deadline in early June.
'Indonesia's next president will inherit serious human rights problems which require leadership and commitment to resolve them all,' said HRW's deputy director for Asia, Phelim Kine, in a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
'Indonesian voters should insist that presidential candidates make explicit their plans to promote and strengthen human rights in the country,' Kine further said.
There are currently five presidential aspirants who, depending on the results of the legislative election on April 9, will form election tickets with vice presidential candidates. Additional candidates may join the presidential race depending on the results.
The country's election laws require a political party to win more than 20 percent of seats in the 560-seat House of Representatives, or 25 percent of the total votes, in order to nominate a presidential election ticket. The government plans to release the results of the legislative election on May 6.
The HRW questionnaire sought responses on issues concerning religious minorities, women's rights, the situation in Papua, reforms to the justice system, as well as refugees and asylum seekers. (ebf)
