Lack of commitment to solve human rights issues in Papua

Lack of commitment to solve human rights issues in Papua

JUBI, 8 April 2011

The deputy chairman of the Papuan branch of Komnas HAM, the National
Human Rights Commission, Mathius Murib, has accused the regional
authorities of lack of commitment to solve human rights violations in
West Papua.

He said that the local government had failed to enact a regional
regulation known as Perda regarding human rights .

Komnas HAM has already prepared the draft of a Perda but the provincial
governor and the provincial legislative assembly have as yet failed to
enact it as a regulation.

He cited as examples of the government's lack of commitment the fact
that the Wasior case in 2001 and the Wamena case in 2003 were still
unresolved although Komnas HAM had carried out pro justicia
investigations of these cases and had reached the conclusion that both
were cases of gross human rights violations. However, the
attorney-general's office had a different opinion about the cases.

Murib made three recommendations that the victims might consider in
order to bring such cases to a resolution. They could find ways to use
legal mechanisms within the Indonesian judiciary, adding that it might
be possible to bring these cases before an international mechanism.

A second possibility was for the provincial government to enact the
Perda regulation as drafted by Komnas HAM.

The third possibility was for Komnas HAM to become a regional human
rights commission under the framework of the special autonomy law within
the powers of authority of the governor of the province of Papua.

ends

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