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SBY Redefines ‘Gross Rights Violations,’ Says Recent Incidents Don’t Fit the Bill
Arientha Primanita & Ulma Haryanto | January 21, 2012

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sits among military and police generals at a law enforcement meeting in Jakarta on Friday. (Antara Photo) President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sits among military and police generals at a law enforcement meeting in Jakarta on Friday. (Antara Photo)
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JohnnyCool
5:49pm Jan 28, 2012

Why doesn't SBY "enforce the rule of law" in his hometown of Bogor? That'd be a start.

And as for his redefnition of "gross human rights violations", I wonder how he defines ordinary human rights violations?

Why does he have to remind officials that upholding human rights is important?

"..continue the legal process against those who take the law into their own hands.." What does he mean by "continue"? When did it start?

I love the photo - sitting amongst his sycophantic buddies (probably the "real" government of RI).


AlexBrehm
7:54am Jan 24, 2012

The intellectual ability is shown by that activity!

didikarjadi
3:28pm Jan 23, 2012

I am shocked that this horror story did-not attract more comments. Is this indicative of the problems we face and the situation we are in?

I believe that we are witnessing the death throws of Indonesian democracy.

Roderick
11:17am Jan 23, 2012

What a cop-out, if SBY is the great social reformer then I think there is little hope for real change in Indonesia and even less for Papuans and West Papua. When will the military and the police be held properly accountable for their brutal (and often illegal) conduct in West Papua ? Surely, it is now time to allow the international community to make a broad assessment of conditions on the ground in papua. Clearly SBY is not capable of controlling the Indonesian security appartatus, so let someone else do it for him.

Papua Merdeka !

JoanOfJakarta
7:31pm Jan 22, 2012

First of all, the state is not ignorant of all the violatiants of human right that have been happening, and that still are happening. For them, Papuans are less than human, little people are tools to make more money and power for themselves. The international community doesn't care because there's too much money involved. Life's not worth anything for these people.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hit back on Friday at activists criticizing Indonesia’s human rights record, saying recent violence could not be considered a gross human rights violation.

In front of National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) officers on Friday, the president lectured on what constituted gross human rights violations.

“The first is genocide, or mass murder, and [the second is] crimes against humanity,” he said.

Law enforcement officers have been strongly criticized by local and international human rights groups recently over a spate of violent incidents that have led to the death of protesters, in places including Papua, Bima and Mesuji.

Yudhoyono said he regretted that some people were quick to blame the state for neglect in events that led to injury or death.

“Too often the government is accused of omission. There are also those who are quick to accuse [the government] of gross human rights violations,” Yudhoyono said.

Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the speech was more of a “political reaction” to a recent spate of violence by officers in the field.

“It is part of his defense to try to distort legal arguments used by civil society,” Haris said.

He added that the president should travel to Papua and observe the situation for himself, or look closely at the situation of the Ahmadiyah minority sect.

“These seemingly separate incidents were all caused by the same thing: prolonged ignorance by the state,” Haris said. “And the state’s ignorance is a violation of human rights.”

In his speech, Yudhoyono reminded the officials of the importance of upholding human rights and exercising caution in dealing with mobs.

“Prevent excessive action that could potentially violate the law and human rights,” he said. “But continue the legal process against those who take the law into their own hands.”

Yudhoyono also urged the police and military to be responsive toward the public’s complaints, and addressed criticism that there were too many security officers in Papua.

“It makes no sense when NGOs say that, as though [the government] should not enforce the rule of law and security in Papua,” the president said, adding that the presence of separatist elements in the country’s westernmost province justified the high level of security there.

But Andreas Harsono, a consultant for Human Rights Watch, said that so far none of the president’s promises for welfare improvement in Papua had yielded tangible results.

“Papuans only see violence after violence in front of them,” Andreas said, “from wage problems in Freeport, to dozens arrested for raising the Morning Star flag.”