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National scene: Law required to protect human rights activists
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called on the government to pass a law to ensure the safety of human rights activists after an uptick in cases of violence the commission says resembles the New Order era
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he National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called on the government to pass a law to ensure the safety of human rights activists after an uptick in cases of violence the commission says resembles the New Order era.
Komnas HAM said complaints over violations against rights activists reported to the institution centered on violations of freedoms of speech and assembly, which hampered activists from advocating for the rights of the public.
The commission has identified three measures often employed by government officials, in particular the police, to hamper the work of human rights activists; namely criminalization, arbitrary detention and murder.
'These are patterns that were widely used to intimidate activists during the New Order regime. The adoption of such acts in this democratic era is regrettable,' Komnas HAM commissioner Siti Noor Laila said on Friday.
Komnas HAM data reveals that intimidation of rights activists took place mostly in the easternmost province of Papua. Of the 22 incidents reported to the rights commission, five took place in the conflict-prone region.
Meanwhile, an escalation in cases of intimidation against rights activists occurred in West Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, Yogyakarta and North Sumatra provinces.
