US Alleged Care To Protect Human Rights Violations, Komnas HAM: No Complaints So Far

Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Beka Ulung Hapsara/DOK VIA ANTARA

JAKARTA - Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Beka Ulung Hapsara said that so far there have been no complaints regarding alleged violations of human rights (HAM) related to the use of the PeduliLindung application.

This was conveyed in response to allegations of human rights violations in the application used to track the spread of COVID-19 in the country. This allegation appears in a report related to human rights issued by the United States Department of State.

"Until now, there have been no complaints from citizens to Komnas HAM regarding alleged human rights violations from the PeduliLindung application," Beka said in a written statement to VOI, Saturday, April 16.

Beka also said that PeduliLindung is actually a form of protecting the right to health and the right to life of citizens in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think the PeduliLindung application must be seen in a broader context, namely the protection of the right to health and the right to life of citizens, so it requires tools for tracing and treatment," he said.

As previously reported, the US Department of Foreign Affairs highlighted a number of problems that occurred in Indonesia. This is stated in the report on human rights practices in Indonesia.

Quoted from the website of the United States Embassy in Indonesia, one of the human rights issues that has been in the spotlight is the PeduliLindung application which was launched by the Government since March 2020.

In the report, human rights violations from the PeduliLindung application fall into the category of 'Arbitrariness or Legal Crimes related to Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence'. This is known to the US Ministry of Foreign Affairs on reports from a number of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

"A number of NGOs are concerned that information is being collected through an application and the data is stored and used by the government," the English-language report said.