Putting the cart before the horse again?

‘Human rights must conform to local values’


The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Tue, September 25 2012


Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi has said that the government is drawing up a regulation that would make it possible for local governments to interpret the universal values of human rights in accordance with local conditions.

Gamawan said his ministry was working with the Law and Human Rights Ministry to draft a joint ministerial decree that would set standards on how to define human rights according to local customs that would be used as the benchmark in drafting bylaws nationwide.

“We have to come up with our own standards so that the implementation of so-called human rights will not contradict religious and cultural values embraced by people in parts of this country who have their own traditions,” Gamawan said on the sidelines of a hearing with House of Representatives Commission II on home affairs and regional autonomy on Monday.

He said that in Aceh for instance, the implementation of universal values of human rights must adapt to the sharia imposed in the province.

“Establishing our own context of human rights is really important so that people will not arbitrarily use human rights to justify freedom as they like because people usually condemn the government’s attempt to regulate them as a violation of human rights. They forget that they must also respect the rights of others. Article 28 of the Constitution clearly states that our rights are bound by the law,” he said.

Gamawan said that there was no such thing as total freedom in the country. “We are bound by the rights of our neighbors,” Gamawan added.

Article 28(j) of the 1945 Constitution stipulates that each person has the obligation to respect the fundamental rights of others while participating in the life of the community and the nation.

The planned joint ministerial decree is one of three regulations the Indonesian government offered to set up in response to the recommendations made by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in its quadrennial human rights review in May.

The Indonesian government has rejected the 30 recommendations emerging from the meeting, including a recommendation to revoke laws and regulations that curb religious freedom.

In addition to rejecting recommendations on religious rights, the government also stated in its report to the UNHRC that it was unable to give foreign journalists free access to Papua and West Papua, as proposed by the French delegation during the May meeting.

The Indonesian government has also refused to allow the entry of United Nations special rapporteurs on indigenous people and minority groups into the country. The Foreign Ministry said the government had abided by the Constitution when drafting its response to the recommendations.

National Commission on Human Rights (Komans HAM) chairman Ifdhal Kasim denounced Gamawan’s statement, saying that the minister failed to grasp the universality of human rights values.

“The international community has agreed on a standard of human rights to judge the performance of a civilized country. The protection of human rights reflects its acknowledgment of humanity,”
Ifdhal said.

All local ordinances and national laws should in fact be based on the universal values of human rights because they know no religion, race, gender or sexual orientation, he added.

Ifdhal said that the central government should take action against problematic bylaws. A study by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) found that as of August this year, 282 bylaws were deemed discriminatory toward women.

“A bylaw that conforms to the universal values of human rights will empower the people instead of oppress them further,” Ifdhal said.