BANDUNG - Human Rights Minister (HAM) Natalius Pigai revealed that the draft Indigenous People's Bill (RUU) had officially been submitted to the DPR. The regulation is considered an important step to strengthen the recognition and legal protection of indigenous people in Indonesia.
Natalius Pigai said that the drafting of the bill was carried out together with various indigenous communities from a number of regions in Indonesia. The draft, according to him, has been submitted to the chairman of the DPR legislation body about two months ago.
"The Indigenous People's Bill is that all indigenous communities have coordinated with us and we have put it together. Two months ago I had already conveyed it to the chairman of the DPR legislation body. So, the draft from the indigenous people and by the Ministry of Human Rights has officially conveyed the draft law," said Natalius Pigai at Green Forest, Parongpong, West Bandung Regency, Wednesday, May 20.
According to him, the main point encouraged in the regulation is the recognition of the state of the existence of indigenous people. He assessed that for many years indigenous people have not received strong recognition through national legal instruments.
"There are many points. The first is recognition. That is because the indigenous people have been asking for recognition for years. Since the Dutch era, it has never been recognized," he said.
Natalius Pigai assessed that the approach to indigenous people has so far been shaped more through the perspective of foreign scientists. In fact, customary law in Indonesia has diversity and different characteristics in each region.
"The existence of customary law in Indonesia must be the number one recognition. After recognition, only protection or protection, then the third is sustainability," he said.
In addition to legal recognition, the government also proposes the establishment of a mechanism to protect indigenous peoples at various levels of the region. This step is expected to be able to maintain the continuity of indigenous peoples while resolving conflicts that often arise in the field.
"We also propose a National Commission on Indigenous Peoples who will later also deal with conflict issues. So there is protection by the state, but also a justice system through the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples," he said.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
