JAKARTA: Human rights groups have given President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration poor marks with regard to its commitment to upholding human rights.
According to a report by human rights watchdog Setara Institute, Indonesia’s human rights index for 2011 is below standard at only 2.3 on a scale of zero to seven. “The government has done almost nothing to resolve human rights violations in this country. Our report shows that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has yet to punish perpetrators of serious human rights violations such as the incidents in Wamena and Wasior in Papua, or the murder of human rights activist Munir,” Setara Institute’s chairman Hendardi said recently.
The watchdog interviewed 71 activists and community leaders from 13 provinces in Indonesia concerning eight categories of human rights enforcement: The resolution of human rights abuses of the past; freedom of expression; religious freedom; national plan on human rights action and performance of state human rights institutions; protection of the citizen; the abolition of the death penalty; the elimination of discrimination in Indonesia and the fulfillment of economic, social and cultural rights.