Human Rights Law

This chapter focuses on legal protections for human rights in Indonesia, many of which developed after the fall of Soeharto in response to abuses committed during his rule. It begins with an account of international human rights instruments ratified in Indonesia, before providing an overview of domestic Indonesian regulation, and national human rights commissions: Komnas HAM, the Child Protection Commission, and the National Commission on Violence Against Women (KOMNAS Perempuan). It also deals with the largely ineffectual permanent and ad hoc human rights courts and the now-defunct Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The chapter concludes with case studies of legal responses to controversial cases of human rights abuse, including East Timor, Tanjung Priok, Trisakti, and the two Semanggi incidents.

National Human Rights Commissions and Asian Human Rights Norms

Ever since the beginning of the “Asian Values” debate in the early 1990s, there have been efforts on the part of many societal actors to establish distinctively Asian human rights norms that integrate local customary values and international human rights norms. This article presents the claim that National Human Rights Commissions in Asia are well placed to play an important role in this effort to develop localized human rights norms because of their close links with local civil actors, along with their independence from government control, pluralistic make-up, and ability to address complex rights issues in detail. The article also presents a study of how the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has used its powers to prioritize and promote a particularly Korean version of the human rights of the elderly.

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS AND RELIGIOUS CONFLICT IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

The last decade has seen the rise of a potentially significant development in the Asia-Pacific region in regard to human rights—the establishment of National Human Rights Institutions (particularly Human Rights Commissions) in numerous States.2 National Human Rights Commissions (hereafter NHRC) established in compliance with United Nations standards have been established in Australia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.3 In many of these States, however, human rights abuses are still widespread and serious. The establishment of NHRC, which generally do not have the power to make enforceable decisions, could easily be derided as an attempt by governments to create a fac.ade of respect for human rights while failing to take the enforcement of those rights seriously.4 While this criticism has a degree of validity, NHRC have played a constructive, if limited role, in the promotion and protection of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region.