Government Claims About Better Protection Of Human Rights

JAKARTA - The government claims that protection of human rights is getting better nowadays. That was the claim said by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD when comparing it to the New Order era.

"Human rights crimes are crimes committed by the government against its people. In the past, there were a lot of them in the New Order era. Now there are still 12 left that have not been completed," Mahfud told reporters at the Kemenkopolhukam Office, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, Tuesday, December 10th.

After the New Order, aka reformation, until now, there have been no more human rights violations, said Mahfud, adding that including those committed by the police or the TNI. He explained that the current human rights violations were mostly committed by fellow citizens.

"If the people and the people violate human rights, that is not a violation of human rights but crimes, riots, killings and other things," he said, adding that violations of human rights between people mean horizontal human rights violations.

For example, continued Mahfud, nowadays, there is no longer a military operation area like the New Order era. Even if there is a military operation in Papua, said Mahfud, it is carried out to handle conflicts among the people. If anyone is being hunted, continued Mahfud, it is rioters.

"Papua is rioting because between the people and the security forces intervened. So people are sorted out, the people who become victims to the side, the rioters are hunted down," he said.

Therefore, he ensures that there are no human rights violations at this time, even though a number of circles think there were human rights violations during the demonstration on May 22 - demanding the postponement of several laws being discussed in the DPR. For Mahfud, this is not a violation of human rights. Because, from the government's point of view, the demonstration participants also attacked the police.

"There were also a lot of demonstrators who persecuted the police. The demonstration on May 22 was 200 policemen who were injured, some were broken, they fell off (pointing at their wrists). That is not a structured and unsystematic name, let's be objective," Mahfud explained.

"In this era of reform, human rights have been developed, economic, social, cultural, affirmation for education, increasing welfare, all kinds of things, eco-social and cultural rights. Do not see human rights as only one-sided actions from the state," he added.

He added that at present, the security apparatus is more humanist in responding to an event than in the New Order era. On several occasions the police were even willing to withdraw from the ranks to prevent clashes with demonstrations.

"In the past during the New Order era, it was watered by you. Not now, the apparatus has not been measured backwards."

Mahfud