T

he mob attack on the office of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) in Menteng on Sept. 17 seemingly reflects persistent public suspicion of human rights groups.

But, alas, the incident, which activists believe was orchestrated by parties exploiting prevailing anti-communist sentiments for short-term political purposes, may no longer reflect how most Indonesians view human rights groups.

It is true that for years, the term “human rights activist” had evoked cynicism and even derision in Indonesia. Some may see activists as opportunists. Others may accuse them of being foreign agents trying to meddle in the country’s domestic affairs.

But public perception of them has changed, according to a recent survey.

The survey, conducted by the United States-based Pew Research Center in collaboration with the Centre for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS), has found that human rights groups in Indonesia are considered to have a positive influence in the country.

More people have favorable views of human rights groups (82 percent) than of the media (81 percent) or the police (62 percent), according to the survey. Rights activists trail behind religious leaders (93 percent), the military (90 percent) and the government (84 percent) as the institutions most favored by the public.

The poll, which was also conducted in India, Kenya and Mexico and involved 5,581 respondents, found that 75 percent of Indonesians believe that human rights groups “are influencing the way things are” in the country. The figure is higher than in Kenya (68 percent), Mexico (63 percent) and India (60 percent).

Only ten percent of Indonesians say human rights groups are “promoting foreign interests.”

Those surveyed said that promoting policies that help the poor should be a top priority of human rights groups. “There was also considerable support for many of the other priorities tested, including promoting a clean environment, ensuring free and fair elections, ensuring the right to a free trial, holding the government accountable on human rights issues, guaranteeing gender equality and protesting police misconduct,” the study said.

Wahyudi Djafar from the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) said he was encouraged by the survey’s findings, but admitted there were bad apples out there that gave rights groups a bad name.

The activist said it was crucial for human rights organizations to be transparent. He said that a man claiming to be a member of an NGO had asked for money from Elsam after asking about details of its funding.

“Intimidation like this has tainted our image,” he said.

Elsam, he said, had always been transparent about its funding, especially after the government issued a regulation in 2014 stipulating that foreign funding for human rights organizations must go through a government-to-government scheme. In the past, the groups directly obtained funds from private donors.

Wahyudi said his organization received funding from the Australian and Dutch governments.

Other organizations, such as human rights watchdog Setara Institute, relied on funds from the Canadian government in addition to private contributions from senior members.

Setara senior researcher Ismail Hasani cited financial dependency as a challenge that NGOs should settle in the coming years, especially as Indonesia was part of the world’s emerging economies and because of its G-20 status.

“We must be able to be self-sufficient in order to maintain existence. This is a challenge to all human rights groups here,” he said.

There is no comprehensive data on the exact number of rights groups in the country. According to the database of the Jakarta-based Smeru Research Institute, there were more than 3,000 non-governmental regional and national organizations whose focuses ranged from the promotion of civil rights to social rights, religious freedom and environmental rights.

The latest major human rights group established here was Amnesty International Indonesia, which has sought support from the country’s younger demographics.

Medelina K. Hendytio from the CSIS cited a lack of reliable data on human rights organizations as a problem that needed to be immediately addressed. “It is important to figure out which organizations truly work for the promotion of human rights and which do not,” she said.