Dissemination And Education

The UN Decade on Human Rights Education:

1. To form a working group to carry out the decade of activities, as follow up of the UN Vienna Declaration and Action Program.
2. To decide the priorities in the UN plan of action on human rights education for the decade with UN assistance.
3. To organize symposiums on regional and national level for exchanging views to promote human rights education, in line with the results of the National Workshop on human rights education for development in Asia Pacific, Manila in 1995.
4. Development and dissemination of human rights studies.

---

University Level:

1. To form a human rights study center. In the first stage study centers will be set up in several universities in Jakarta, Central and East Java and one outside Java.  To set up libraries on human rights in universities and establish a national center on human rights.
2. To organize a degree program for a study on human rights in several universities in Indonesia or abroad on a scholarship.
3. Education and training on human rights for law enforcement apparatuses with aid from UN headquarters.

Harmonization of National Law

In this phase, the government of Indonesia plans:

1. To organize a study and assessment on several laws and national regulations and or regional regulations which are relevant to international human rights. The activities cover the current laws and plans for new regulations.
2. To also revise the current laws and or draft new regulations in line with the international human rights.
3. To give directives to law enforcers concerned in upholding international human rights, for which assistance from the UN Headquarters is needed.

---

An Obligation to Report

The Government of Indonesia also has the obligation to report to the UN, and will organize:

1. The formation of a national agency charged with arranging reports from Indonesia to the UN.
2. The necessity of regular coordination and consultation between government and non-government agencies on the implementation of international human rights.
3. Training on the structure and dissemination of the reports to certain agencies of the UN.
4. Dissemination of guidelines of the UN human rights on the obligation of the reports to the government agencies concerned.

Indonesian Human Rights Actions

Indonesian Human Rights Actions

Indonesia aims to uphold human rights in line with the United Nations Declaration and Actions in Vienna in 1993. The UN Declaration has inspired the Indonesian government to organize the Second national workshop on human rights.

The national action on human rights in Indonesia formulated in a program which has been enacted for five years, as imbued in the policy of the Indonesian five-year development program on the State Guidelines of the Republic of Indonesia.

The human rights action is expected to strengthen respect for the rights of the Indonesian people for justice as enacted in the 1945 Constitution.

There are four main pillars of the Indonesian actions on human rights namely:

1. Preparation on international human rights.
2. Dissemination and education of the people on human rights.
3. Priority on the implementation of human rights.
4. The implementation of international rules on human rights as approved by Indonesia.

The activities cover approval, dissemination and education on human rights, priorities on the implementation of human rights.

---

Priority Covers

1. To implement human rights as ratified on the basis of recommendations of the related government and non-government institutions.
2. To further study priorities on international human rights. This is done by an inter-sector department working group.
3. To prepare draft a document of the ratification. This activity is done by a small inter-departmental team.
4. To understand international concepts on human rights.
5. To disseminate information on international concepts on human rights.

In the first year: the Indonesian Government will organize the structure of human rights in the field of economy, social affairs and culture as the convention is against all forms of assassination, and inhuman actions. while the international convention is against all forms of racial discrimination.

In the second year: convention on the prevention and punishment of genocide. and a convention on slavery.

In the third year: the government of Indonesia approves the international convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and their families.

In the fourth year: Indonesia approves an end to human exploitation and prostitution.

The fifth year covers the international convention on civil and political rights.

Simplification Of Political Partuies

The Government Manifesto of November 3, 1945, opened the way to a rapid growth of political parties. Soon a multi-party system emerged with parties of different ideologies, ranging from nationalism to socialism, religion and even Marxism/Leninism. Hence, the political structure developed into a liberal democracy that was a complete departure from the type of democracy envisaged by Pancasila.

With sharply conflicting ideologies, political rivalry was the order of the day and a stable Government was out of the question. With a total of 24 political parties and their fractions, cabinets could only be formed on the basis of a shaky compromise between the strongest parties. In point of fact, coalition cabinets were formed and dissolved very often. The administration was a complete shambles and development was a far cry.

The first and only general election ever held during the rule of the Old Order took place in 1955. Even that election did not produce a strong cabinet with a solid back-up in Parliament. On the contrary, because political conditions continued to deteriorate, the President ordered the formation of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution. However, as mentioned earlier, this only ended in a total deadlock which led the president to take all the power of the state into his own hands under the pretext of guided democracy.

Having learned from the experience of the unlimited multi-party system of the past, the New Order Government, which came into office in 1967, decided to simplify the political system along the following lines:

1. In order to minimize ideological conflicts between political organizations, all political organizations shall adopt Pancasila as their sole basis principle.
2. To simplify the political system, particularly for the purpose of choosing a political organization by the people in general elections, it was felt that the number of these organizations should be reduced.
3. In the past, villages were made the bases of political activities and maneuvers, most notably in the heyday of the Indonesian Communist Party. This adversely affected the social and economic life of the village populations. Hence, it would be desirable to free villages from the activities of political organizations.

Furthermore, the large number of organizations has been reduced by the fusion of parties and their affiliated organizations into two political parties - Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (The United Development Party or Partai Persatuan) and Partai Demokrasi Indonesia (the Indonesian Democracy Party or PDI), and one Functional Group or Golongan Karya (Golkar).

Partai Persatuan is a fusion of Nahdlatul Ulama (the Moslem Scholars Party), Parmusi (the Moslem Party), PSII (the Islamic Confederation) and PERTI (the Islamic Union).

PDI is a fusion of the former PNI (the Nationalist Party), the Catholic Party, the Christian (Protestant) Party, the Indonesian Independence Party, and Partai Murba (the People's Party).

Golkar accommodates the aspirations and political rights and duties of functional groups that are not affiliated with either party, namely civil servants, retired members of the Armed Forces, women's organizations, professional groups, farmers, student, etc.

By virtue of the 1983 Guidelines of the State Policy and on the basis of Act No. 3 of 1985, Pancasila has finally been adopted as the one and only ideological principle upon which all political organizations base their activities.

Pancasila Democracy

Pancasila Democracy is a system of life for the state and society on the basis of the people's sovereignty. It is inspired by the noble values of the Indonesian nation. Pancasila itself, which means the five principles, is the name given to the foundation of the Indonesian Republic. The five principles of Pancasila are : Belief in the One and Only God; A Just and civilized humanity; the Unity of Indonesia; Democracy guided by the inner wisdom of deliberations of representatives; and Social Justice for all the Indonesian people.

Thus Pancasila Democracy means democracy based on the people's sovereignty which is inspired by and integrated with the other principles of Pancasila. This means that the use of democratic rights should always be in line with responsibility towards God Almighty according to the respective faith; uphold human values in line with human dignity; guarantee and strengthen national unity; and be aimed at realizing social justice for the whole of the people of Indonesia.

In a democratic life based on Pancasila, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), being the highest state institution, has a very important role to play. As an institution which fully exercises the sovereign rights of the Indonesian people MPR should always reflect the aspirations and the wishes of the people with all its decisions or decrees. And as the holder of the highest power in the state, the Assembly appoints the President and Vice-President and determines the Guidelines of State Policy for implementation by the President.

The House of Representatives (DPR), the members of which are from the people and are elected by the people, has the function of exercising control over the conduct of the administration by the President. The mechanism of this control by the House of Representatives constitutes a means to prevent constitutional deviation or deviations from the people's wish by the government.

The Reform Order Government

Since the outset of the First Five-Year Development Plan in 1969, Indonesia under the New Order Government of President Soeharto had endeavored to achieve its national devel-opment goals. Indonesia, indeed, had been able to achieve substantial progress in various fields which had been enjoyed by the majority of the Indonesian people. Indonesia had gained success in the national development. Unfortunately, economic crisis, which began with the monetary crisis, struck Indonesia as of July 1997.

Since the middle of 1997, the people's standard of living dropped considerably. The de-cline in the people's standard of living was aggravated by various political tensions arising from the 1997 general elections. The political system which had been developed since 1966 turned out to be unable to accommodate the dynamism of the aspirations and interests of the community. This led to riots and disturbances. To a certain extend, they reflected the malfunctioning of the political order and of the government, finally causing this situation to develop into a political crisis.

The accumulation of the economic crisis and the political crisis became a triggered factor for crisis in confidence. This applied not just to officials and state-running institutions, but also began to touch on the system of values and the legal foundations that underpin the state-running institutions.

A number of student demonstrations ensued, including the occupation of the People's Consultative Assembly/House of People's Representatives compound. They appealed for political and economic reform; demanded President Soeharto to step down and stamp out corruption, collusion and nepotism. Critical moments prevailed in the capital, Jakarta, and other towns from 12 to 21 May 1998.

On 12 May a tragedy happened in the Trisakti University Campus, causing the death of four students. On 18 May the leadership of the House suggested the President resign. The President's effort to accommodate the developing aspirations of the people by forming a re-form cabinet and a reform committee never materialized as there was no adequate support from various circles.

Finally, on 21 May 1998, President Soeharto, after a 32-year rule of the New Order Government resigned. Pursuant to Article 8 of the 1945 Constitution and the People's Consultative Assembly decree no VII/1973, he handed over the country's leadership to Vice-President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie. After the announcement. Habibie took his oath of office before Chief Justice Sarwata to become Indonesia's third President. Earlier President Soeharto disbanded the cabinet which he formed shortly after his reelection for a seventh five-year presidential term in March.

A day after his installment as the third president, Habibie formed the Reform Development Cabinet. He picked the ministers from the various political and social forces, including three politicians from the two minority parties, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), to provide the needed synergy.

1. President B.J. Habibie outlined the agenda for reform during his presidency as follows:
2. rooting out corruption, collusion and nepotism, and create a clean government.
3. reviewing the five political laws upon which the current political system is bound. They are the laws on mass organization, the House of Representatives (DPR), the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), political parties, regional administrations and elections.
4. implementing sweeping reform in all sectors, including in the political, economic, and legal fields, to enable the government to satisfy mounting demands for a strong and clean government.
5. boosting output from the agriculture, agribusiness, export-oriented industry and tourism sectors.
6. safeguarding the implementation of the 1998/99 state budget.
7. accelerating the bank restructuring program.
8. resolving the problem of corporate foreign debts.
9. conducting a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in November 1998, followed by General Elections on May 1999.

East Timor Integration

With the advent of World War II the Japanese ousted both the Dutch and Portuguese from Timor, as well as from the rest of Indonesia. When Japan surrendered to the allied forces in 1945, Indonesians proclaimed the independence of their country which covers the areas of the former Netherlands East Indies. In the mean time, East Timor was returned to the Portuguese by the Allied Forces after the war and the people stayed colonized. They had made several attempts to fight the Portuguese and join Indonesia, but they were suppressed by the colonial regime. Not until 1974 did the Portuguese give them a chance to decide their own political future.

In a statement on May 28, 1974, the Governor of Portuguese Timor, Colonel Fernando Alves Aldela, granted the people permission to form political parties. The response was the emergence of five political parties - UDT (Uniao Democratica Timorese), FRETILIN (Frente Revolucionaria de Timor Leste Independent), APODETI (Associacao Popular Democratica de Timor), KOTA (Klibur Oan Timur Aswain) and TRABALHISTA (Labor Party).

Through lack of popular support, FRETILIN resorted to terror tactics, threats and blackmail in an attempt to intimidate members of the other parties. This caused growing tension throughout the colony and sparked an inevitable civil war.

On August 27, 1975, the Governor and other Portuguese officials abandoned the capital of Dili, fled to Atauro Island and left FRETILIN free to continue its reign of terror. FRETILIN was even supplied with arms from the Portuguese army arsenal.

On November 28 of the same year, FRETILIN unilaterally "declared the independence" of East Timor and announced the formation of "the Democratic Republic of East Timor".

In the light of these developments, on November 30, 1975, at Balibo, UDT, APODETI, KOTA and TRABALHISTA proclaimed the independence of the territory and its simultaneous integration with Indonesia. On December 17, 1975, the four parties announced the establishment of the Provisional Government of East Timor in Dili.

On May 31, 1976, the duly elected People's Assembly of East Timor decided in an open session to formally integrate the territory with the Republic of Indonesia. A bill on this integration was approved by the Indonesian House of Representatives on July 15, 1976 and, with the promulgation by the President, became Law on July 17. East Timor has since been the 27^th province of Indonesia with all the rights and duties under the 1945 Constitution of the Republic.

The New Order Government

Ever since taking office in 1967, the New Order Government of President Soeharto was determined to return constitutional life by upholding the 1945 Constitution in a strict and consistent manner and by respecting Pancasila as the state philosophy and ideology.

To emerge from the political and economic legacy of Soekarno's Old Order, the new government set out to undertake the following:

1. To complete the restoration of order and security and to establish political stability.
2. To carry out economic rehabilitation.
3. To prepare a plan for national development and execute it with the emphasis on economic development.
4. To end confrontation and normalize diplomatic relations with Malaysia.
5. To rejoin to the United Nations, which Indonesia had quit in January 1965.
6. To consistently pursue an independent and active foreign policy.
7. To resolve the West Irian question.
8. To regain Indonesia's economic credibility overseas.
9. To hold general elections once every five years.

Much of the implementation of these policies has been described in the foregoing pages. It remains here to mention some of the more notable achievements of the New Order during the first few years of its existence. Results of national development are presented in this book under the heading "Development Achievements" and are updated each year.

With regard to Malaysia, not only were relations normalized but Indonesia together with Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand joined to establish the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On achieving independence in 1984, Brunei Darussalam became the sixth member of ASEAN. In July 1995, Vietnam was accepted as the seventh member of this regional organization. The objective of the association is the establishment of regional cooperation in the economic, social and cultural fields, but ASEAN also operates in the political area.

To prepare for national development, in addition to economic rehabilitation, Indonesia secured an agreement with creditor countries to reschedule an overseas debt of US$5 billion. With the recovery of the country's overseas credibility, Indonesia succeeded in the formation of a consortium of creditor countries to assist in her economic development. This consortium is known as the Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia (IGGI) and includes the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and a number of West-European countries. Its annual meetings are held in Amsterdam under the chairmanship of the Netherlands. Currently, the IGGI has been replaced by the Consultative Group for Indonesia (CGI) consisting of the former members of IGGI (except the Netherlands) and five new creditors.

The Beginning Of The New Order Government

Over-confident of their strength and precipitated by the serious illness of President Soekarno, who was undergoing treatment by a Chinese medical team from Beijing, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) attempted another coup on September 30, 1965. The uprising, however, was abrupt and quickly stamped out by the Armed Forces under Major General Soeharto, then Chief of the Army's Strategic Command.

On the night of September 30, or more precisely in the early hours of October 1, 1965, armed PKI men and members of Cakrabirawa, the President's security guard, set out to kidnap, torture and kill six top Army Generals. Their bodies were dumped in an abandoned well at Lubang Buaya, on the outskirts of Jakarta. The coup was staged in the wake of troop deployments to Kalimantan, at the height of Indonesia's confrontation with Malaysia. Moreover, at the time, many cabinet members were attending a celebration of the Chinese October Revolution in Beijing. It was during this power vacuum that the communists struck again.

Under instructions from General Soeharto, crack troops of the Army's Commando Regiment (RPKAD) freed the central radio station (RRI) and the telecommunication center from communist occupation.

Students made for the streets in militant demonstrations to fight for a three-point claim, or "Tritura," that aimed to ban the PKI, replace Soekarno's cabinet ministers, and reduce the prices of basic necessities. They set up a "street parliament" to gather the demands of the people.

Under these explosive conditions, President Soekarno eventually gave in and granted Soeharto full power to restore order and security in the country. The transfer of power was effected by a presidential order known as "the 11th of March order" of 1966. Soon afterwards, on March 12, 1966, General Soeharto banned the PKI. This decision was endorsed and sanctioned by virtue of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly Decree No XXV/MPRS/1966. He also formed a new cabinet, but Soekarno remained as Chief Executive. This brought dualism into the cabinet, particularly when Soekarno did not show support for the cabinet's program to establish political and economic stability. Hence, a special session of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS) was convened from March 7-12, 1967. The Assembly resolved to relieve Soekarno of his presidential duties and appointed Soeharto as Acting President, pending the election of a new President by an elected People's Consultative Assembly.

source here.