Kabar Latuharhary

Human Rights Festival 2018, Bringing Human Rights into Practices

There must be good integration and cooperation between the regional and the central government with regards to handling and resolving various human rights violations in Indonesia.

Such was the affirmation of the Chairperson of Komnas HAM- Ahmad Taufan Damanik while delivering an opening speech of the 2018 Indonesian Human Rights Festival (FHI) at the Sasana Adipura Kencana Building, Wonosobo, Central Java, Tuesday (11/13).

The opening ceremony of FHI 2018 was attended by hundreds of invited guests and participants from various regions in Indonesia, and consisted of various kinds of organizations both from the government and representatives from Non-Government Institutions.

It is attended by many invited guest such as Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo, Wonosobo Major Eko Purnomo, Director General of Human Rights Mualimin, Brigjen Pol Agung Makbul of Police Headquarter,  and Deputy V Presidential Office Jaleswari P. 

According to Ahmad Taufan, owing to Indonesia’s limited resources, integration between the central government and the regions must be done, this is especially urgent as the intensity and variety of types of human rights violations that occur in Indonesia are increasing.

The regional government - according to Komnas HAM’s complaint data - is one of the parties that has been complained about by the public for alleged human rights violations.

For this reason, efforts to reduce human rights violations and promote human rights can be achieved by continuing to mainstream the formation of Human Rights Districts / Cities in all corners of the country. Taufan added. 

"The central government should be obligated to be more pro-active and encourage regional governments to be willing and ready to become human rights districts / cities," Taufan asserted.

Human rights districts consider human rights values as a foothold or foundation in their policy making, work program development, and development implementation. The Wonosobo region is a good example of a Human Rights District, as it has established its own Regional Regulation (Perda) on Wonosobo Region and Human Rights, has established a local Human Rights Commission, has dedicated a Center for Law and Human Rights Studies at the Al Quran (Unsiq) University of Wonosobo, and has generally displayed commitment to human rights. 

Ahmad Taufan Damanik commented "What Wonosobo does is in line with what has been outlined by the founding fathers, namely, to establish human rights values such as justice, participation, inclusivity, and transparency as the basis for carrying out development". 

Additionally, Taufan further said that what had been done by the Wonosobo Regency Government (Pemkab) needs to be followed by other districts / cities. At present there are dozens of regencies / cities that proclaim themselves as human rights districts / cities. But this number still needs to increase as there are more than 514 districts / cities in Indonesia". 

The Indonesian Human Rights Festival (FHI) Forum 2018 is an event which seeks to remind all parties of this fact and also invites guests to share their experiences so that they will be less inclined to commit human rights violations in any form," said Ahmad Taufan. He also reminded that there are still many cases of human rights violations that have not been resolved. 

"There are more than seven cases of gross human rights violations that have been settled by Komnas HAM which has submited to the Attorney General. Furthermore, cases continue to emerge in the agrarian sector, increasing inter-community violence, etc," Taufan said.

FHI 2018 is a joint event between the Komnas HAM, the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), the Office of Presidential Staff (KSP), Central Java Provincial Government, and the District Government (Pemkab) of Wonosobo. (Rusman/Jeff)

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