11. It should be recognized that, Indonesia has independence National Human Rights
Commission which accredited status A. Nevertheless, with regard to the Law No. 39/1999
on Human Rights in which the Commission is regulated, the Commission also identified
many fundamental weaknesses that deter the independence and function of the
Commission. Thus, the Commission recommended for the amendment of the Law No.
39/1999. These fundamental weaknesses were reflected in the notes of the International
Coordinating Committee as follows:
a. The importance of legislative immunity for members and staff of the Commission in
the exercise of their duty and refers the Commission to the General Observation on
immunity;
b. That the representation of women amongst Commissioners is low;
c. That the position, duties, responsibilities and organizational structure of the
Secretariat are currently set forth in a Presidential Decree and should rather be
established through Commission regulations and policies to ensure independence
and autonomy; and
d. The Sub-Committee refers the Commission to the General Observation on
cooperation with other human rights institutions.
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on the Ground
12. Looking at the human rights condition in Indonesia, The Commission concluded the
condition conducive for the implementation of human rights in Indonesia has yet been
fulfilled. The Commission was fully aware that the realization of the economic, social and
cultural rights is progressive in nature. However, in the context of the fulfillment of
economic, social and cultural rights, the budget allocation for several sectors affected
directly on the people’s welfare had not shown significant progress. State budget mostly
allocated to pay foreign debts and interest. It led to the lack of budget allocation for health
and education which decisively hinder the fulfillment of economic, social and cultural rights
of the people. The policy to revoke the subsidy for fuels which has caused the people become
farther and farther away from right of adequate standard of living.
13. The Commission noted that certain regulation does not reflect the willingness of the state to
implement the economic, social and cultural rights. A number of regulations such as the Act
on Electrical Energy, the Act on Water Resources, and the Act on Oil and Natural Gas, as
well as the revision of the Act of Employment Affairs had shown the market influence over
the Government policies.
14. The Commission concerned that some problems also still occurred in the implementation
and fulfillment of economic, social and cultural rights, such as: (a) increasing number of
unemployment which shown the unfulfilment of the right to work; (b) forced eviction
practices of the people who stayed in land areas belonged to other parties without proper
compensation or settlement occurred in urban and remote areas; (c) the hot-mud flow
disaster which covered a large area and caused people to leave their home and lost their jobs.
This was considered as a violation to the right to survival and the right to good and healthy
environment. The Commission pointed out specific cases in the area of economic, social and
cultural rights should also be highlighted:
a. The case of Migrant workers. The Commission appreciated the invitation of the
Indonesian Government to the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Rights of
Migrant Workers, Jorge Bustamante in December 2006. The Commission, however,
considered that the Indonesian government policies toward migrant workers have
yet taking the worker’s side. The Commission observed, these workers, especially
women workers are often ill-treated during departure, transit, work places and
return). Cases of document forgery, violations of work contracts, unpaid wages,