US Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Accuses Application Of Care To Protect Human Rights Violations, DPR Asks Government To React: Invite NGOs To Discuss

PeduliLindung application which is part of the COVID-19 pandemic policy in Indonesia. (Between)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemenlu) of the United States (US) has accused the PeduliLindung application, which is part of the COVID-19 pandemic policy in Indonesia, of violating human rights (HAM). The DPR asked the government to take the accusations seriously.

"This accusation cannot be taken lightly. Moreover, the PeduliLindung application is allegedly storing public data illegally and without permission," said DPR Commission IX member Saleh Partaonan Daulay in a statement in Jakarta, Friday, April 15.

He said the accusation was very detrimental to Indonesia's good name on the global stage. Moreover, Indonesia is currently very serious in handling breaking the chain of the spread of COVID-19.

"To be honest, the PeduliLindung application does store our data. Starting from our name, NIK (residential identification number), date of birth, email, and travel tracks. Almost all crowded places we visit, we must scan the barcode to check in. Of course the data- All the data is stored in PeduliLindung," he said.

The chairman of the PAN faction said the PeduliLindung application from the start was intended as a tool to carry out tracing in monitoring the spread of COVID-19.

"With this application, the Task Force (COVID-19 Task Force) can clearly see close contacts with the potential for the spread of the virus. From this monitoring, the Task Force then anticipates in accordance with the necessary steps," he explained.

In that context, he said, the government was asked to provide a complete explanation and answer all the accusations made and not to wait for the issue to be rolled out more widely abroad.

"Indonesia's image as the largest democratic country in Asia must be maintained. Do not let the issue of human rights violations degrade Indonesia's position. From the report, the accusation of human rights violations was originally voiced by an NGO (non-governmental organization). Although the name of the NGO is not mentioned, the Government should have known. Moreover, the NGOs in question are said to have written a letter of protest to the government regarding this," he said.

According to him, the NGO should be invited to discuss the allegations related to the application. "If it is concluded from the discussion that there is a violation of human rights, the government must immediately evaluate, if necessary, immediately close the application," he said.

He also considered that he had not seen direct benefits from the PeduliLindung application in restraining the spread of COVID-19. "What exists is that this application only functions to record the vaccination status of residents, as well as to record people affected by COVID-19. As for how to use the data to protect citizens, I am not clear. This is what needs to be opened to the public in a transparent and open manner," he concluded.