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Majorities like to ignore human rights of others
Privileged groups are quick to invoke their human rights to protect their own interests, while they simply ignore human rights when it comes to the rights of other groups.
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Human rights law requires the state to protect, respect and fulfill the rights of its people, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, political opinion or gender identity, and also requires all people to respect the rights of others. (Shutterstock/garagestoc)
O
ne of the signs of the successful promotion of human rights is that human rights are invoked by many different groups, including intolerant religious-based groups. Their rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression are indeed protected by international human rights law, guaranteed in national laws and by the 1945 Constitution.
Another sign of success, unfortunately, is that many people start to take human rights for granted. This is worrying because sometimes this mind-set is used by privileged groups that only want to maintain their privileged position.
Worse, sometimes our short memories mean we forget that efforts to fight for human rights have be synonymous with the struggle to defend minorities, those who are unprivileged and incapable of defending themselves.
What is privilege anyway? We are privileged when we have special rights, advantages, or immunity as an individual or as a group.
In a society with a predominant religion, followers of that religion are a privileged group. In a market-based society, the upper and middle classes are privileged. In a patriarchal society, men are privileged. In a bureaucratic culture, the bureaucrats are privileged. In a Java-centric society, the Javanese are privileged, and the list goes on.
Privileged groups are quick to invoke their human rights to protect their own interests, while they simply ignore human rights when it comes to the rights of other groups.
In light of populism, the rise of intolerance and religious conservatism, we should stop taking human rights for granted, as we have witnessed a decline of one of the most noble characteristics of Indonesia, which is tolerance.
