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Indonesia’s human rights record still poor: Imparsial
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (fifth from right), flanked by Law and Human Rights Minister Yassona Laoly (fourth right) and State Secretary Pratikno (third right), talks with National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Imdadun Rahmat (fourth left), other commissioners and several figures who are in the selection committee for the next Komnas HAM commissioners on Dec. 9 at State Palace in Jakarta. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
T
he government is still failing to protect and uphold human rights in the country despite a number of laws guaranteeing the rights of all citizens, which according to Jakarta-based human rights watchdog Imparsial is rooted in a lack of focus and commitment.
Imparsial executive director Al Araf said the absence of human rights in the priority programs of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had added to the already long list of challenges to the poor performance in the country’s efforts to equally protect the rights of all people.
“It’s really important for the government to politically commit to making human rights a priority program otherwise we will not see any changes in the future,” Al Araf said in a discussion on Friday.
He said such a lack of political commitment had posed challenges, including political transactions that consequently put aside human rights, a toothless national rights body, which was supposedly a front-line protector of human rights in the country, and unfinished legal reform.
“Jokowi’s administration is no different to those of his predecessors, which failed to prioritize actions to uphold human rights,” Al Araf said, citing current rampant religious intolerance, criminalization of activists, the ongoing use of the death penalty as well as impunity as examples that showed Jokowi was not committed to human rights. (evi)
