Agusigit November 10, 2022, 19:46 WIB
YOGYA – Indonesia’s commitment to international obligations in the promotion and fulfillment of human rights (HAM) yesterday was evaluated for the fourth time by all members of the United Nations through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Various components of civil society in Indonesia call on the government to accept and implement all UPR recommendations.
Jesse Adam, Campaign Manager of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) said the Indonesian delegation led by Yasonna Laoly, Minister of Law and Human Rights received a number of recommendations from all members of the United Nations. Some of them are the prosecution of human rights violations in Papua which allegedly involve security forces, the abolition of the death penalty, revision of the Criminal Code (KUHP), the issue of optional ratification of the anti-torture convention protocol, the issue of freedom of religion or belief (KBB), the issue of disability with various intersecting issues such as education, health and employment, as well as the ratification of the OP CRPD, freedom of the press and expression, freedom of assembly and association, protection of women, children, respect and protection of LGBTIQ+, migrant workers, indigenous peoples and stateless people.
“In the descriptions reported and the responses given by the Indonesian delegation, they tend to convey normative and instrumentalist statements, Indonesia has ratified a number of international conventions, issued a number of laws related to human rights and conveyed a number of activities but almost completely forgot (not reported) the implementation of a number of conventions. and the Law and whether the implementation has been enjoyed by the people in an inclusive manner. In reality, the main obstacle to the implementation of a number of conventions and laws is also the product of discriminatory state policies, and their implementation is non-human rights, repressive and anti-democratic,” he said at a press conference on the results of the UPR session at Melia Purosani Yogyakarta, Thursday (11/10/2010). 2022).
The civil society coalition from various organizations also gave various responses to the UPR recommendations at the session in Geneva yesterday. Several things have been highlighted, including the issue of disability and the death penalty which the Indonesian government still defends today. “On the issue of the death penalty, defending the death penalty in the name of eradicating narcotics and terrorism as stated by Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly in his presentation at the UPR session is a shallow narrative, not scientifically based and thick with political sentiments.
The fact is that cases of narcotics and terrorism are still trending high. In line with more than 23 countries in the world providing records of the abolition of the death penalty at UPR sessions, Indonesia needs to synchronize its policy of abolishing the death penalty in national law. Especially now that Indonesia is discussing changes to the RKUHP which retains the death penalty,” continued Ardi Manto, Deputy Director of Imparsial.
Ardi also added that regarding the issue of freedom of religion/belief (KBB), the response of the Indonesian government delegation that did not acknowledge the various issues of fulfilling the KBB was a form of denial of the facts that had occurred so far, especially after the 2017 evaluation of Indonesia’s UPR. The forced cessation of worship , forced closing of houses/places of worship, vigilante actions, vandalism, and hate speech in the name of religion as well as various other forms of discriminatory behavior are still occurring in Indonesia.
“An example is the destruction and prohibition of worship of the Indonesian Ahmadiyya Congregation in Sintang district, West Kalimantan in 2021. The mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was damaged and burned by intolerant groups in front of state officials.
Even more ironically, the destruction was also driven by policies made by the local government regarding the Ahmadiyah group using the legal basis of the 3 Ministerial Decree on Ahmadiyah. Not to mention, various incidents of refusal to build churches, destruction of places of worship for religious groups, forced dress code according to certain religions in public schools, and so on are still happening.
Even more serious, the state has also become a good actor in various violations of the KBB, In yesterday’s UPR evaluation forum, at least 11 countries provided recommendations regarding issues of tolerance and religious freedom for all religions/beliefs in Indonesia. So, according to him, there is no other honorable way for Indonesia, apart from accepting and implementing the recommendations at yesterday’s UPR session.
“Furthermore, the government must not be defensive, in denial, and turn a blind eye to the ongoing bad condition of KBB in Indonesia,” he continued. Risnawati Utami, Founder of OHANA and member of the CRPD committee explained that in the issue of the rights of Persons with Disabilities, there were recommendations from the assembly that supported the ratification of the OP CRPD or the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The ratification of the OP CRPD will greatly support policy reforms and changes in jurisprudence on discriminatory laws and regulations against the rights of persons with disabilities including the Criminal Code and the Civil Code which still question the legal capacity or legal capacity of persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities into groups under forgiveness. “Apart from that, respect for and fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities were emphasized by many countries during the 2022 UPR session to obtain recognition and protection as well as fulfillment that is equal to other civil society rights.
Another important issue is the rehabilitation center which was mentioned and brought attention to the fact that the orphanage is contrary to Article 19 of the CRPD and encourages all countries to support the promotion and implementation of an independent and orphanage-free life in stages. Compassion-based and medical-based approaches that are still being carried out by the state and its various institutions must be continuously eliminated so that persons with disabilities get equal rights guaranteed by the state,” he said. (fxh)
Categories: Asia, Indonesia, United Nations