Canadian Human Rights Commission Continues Aid to Indonesian Commission
10 November 2003 08:05 WIB
According to Falardeau-Ramsey, the CHRC has helped develop the Indonesian human rights commission into a strong and professional institution that can work independently in enforcing and arousing the people’s awareness on human rights in Indonesia.
The third stage of the aid project donated by the Canadian government to the Indonesian Commission is worth US$ 2.2 million. The aid comes in the form of technical support aimed at improving the ability of the Indonesian Commission personnel in various sectors. According to the CHRC executive director Charles Theroux, who is responsible for this project in Indonesia, training will aim to improve the documentation and investigation of human rights violations, increase the quality of libraries and information supply and the capacity in international conferences on human rights. “Most training will be carried out in Indonesia but some Indonesian Commission personnel will be sent to Montreal, Canada, each year to be trained in the documentation program,” Theroux said.
This project will not involve Indonesian human rights non-governmental organizations (NGO). “They might not be directly involved with us, but in practice, they will be involved with the Indonesian Commission,” Theroux said.
Ramsay rejected the belief that the role of the NGOs will decrease in the future as the Indonesian Commission improves its role. “This is a very big country with so many human rights problems, making it unlikely that the Indonesian Commission can work alone,” Ramsay said.
Ramsay was very optimistic that the Indonesian Commission would be independent following this cooperation. “As long as the fund is provided, the personnel’s capacity is increased and professionalism is maintained, the Indonesian Commission will be a strong institution that is independent of government intervention,” he said.
Ramsay agreed that legislative and institutional problems do hurt the independence of the Indonesian Commission. Among the potential reasons for government intervention is that the Commission is still financed by the government.
