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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Culture & Society

Amnesty International Slams Indonesian Plan to Screen Human Rights Defenders

From Tempo · (11m ago) Indonesian Critical tone

Translated from Indonesian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Amnesty International Indonesia strongly criticizes the Indonesian Ministry of Human Rights' proposal to form a team to determine the status of human rights defenders.
  • The organization argues this plan is a 'tool of administrative repression' that could limit civil space and deviate from human rights principles.
  • Amnesty warns the policy risks undermining the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and could lead to increased criminalization and intimidation of activists.

Amnesty International Indonesia has issued a strong condemnation of the Ministry of Human Rights' proposed plan to establish a team tasked with determining who qualifies as a human rights defender. Tempo reports that Amnesty views this initiative not as a protective measure, but as a potentially 'repressive tool' that could stifle civil society and undermine fundamental human rights principles.

The state lacks moral or legal legitimacy to determine who can or cannot be called a human rights defender.

— Wirya Adiwena, Deputy Director of Amnesty International IndonesiaExpressing Amnesty's core objection to the government's proposed screening team.

Wirya Adiwena, Deputy Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, articulated the organization's deep concern, labeling the proposal a 'dangerous step backward.' The core of Amnesty's argument rests on the belief that the state has no legitimate basis, moral or legal, to confer or deny the title of 'human rights defender.' They assert that this status is earned through actions, not granted by government decree, and that the state's obligation is to protect, not to label or categorize defenders.

If implemented, this assessment team will certainly become a tool of administrative repression.

— Wirya Adiwena, Deputy Director of Amnesty International IndonesiaWarning about the potential misuse of the proposed team.

This proposed policy is particularly alarming from Amnesty's perspective because it echoes the restrictive practices of Indonesia's past, specifically the New Order era. The fear is that such an assessment team, composed of state officials, civil society representatives, and law enforcement, could easily become a mechanism for silencing dissent. By potentially excluding critical voices or those who receive payment for their work—such as journalists, lawyers, and legal aid providers—the government risks creating a system where activists are more vulnerable to criminalization and intimidation. This stance reflects a deep-seated skepticism towards government overreach and a staunch defense of civil liberties, a viewpoint that resonates strongly within Indonesian human rights advocacy circles.

The proposal contradicts the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

— Wirya Adiwena, Deputy Director of Amnesty International IndonesiaHighlighting the conflict between the proposed policy and international human rights standards.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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