Chief Justice of Indonesia Signs Human-Rights Training Agreement
HONOLULU – The Chief Justice of Indonesia’s Supreme Court
has signed a formal agreement with the East-West Center in Honolulu and
the War Crimes Studies Center at the University of California, Berkeley
to expand the human-rights training that the two institutions have been
providing to Indonesian law officials for several years through their
joint Asian International Justice Initiative.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed at the East-West Center on
June 6 details a five-year commitment to conduct training programs for
Indonesian judges, prosecutors, police and the National Human Rights
Commission in order to “improve knowledge of human rights standards and
how they can be implemented and applied by key judicial actors to
promote the rule of law and the effectiveness of human rights courts and
investigations.”
“This agreement continues the cooperation that started more than four
years ago on how to improve the courts in Indonesia on issues of human
rights,” said Chief Justice Bagir Manan. “But this is not only a matter
for law enforcement and the courts, but also how to make awareness of
human rights part of daily life for all people, how to make it part of
our cultural, social and political lives. Human rights can develop in
Indonesia if we have continuing education for courts and judges, and for
the people also. That’s why this cooperation is very important to us.”
Prof. David Cohen, director of the U.C. Berkeley War Crimes Studies
Center and the Asian International Justice Initiative, said the
agreement represents the “continuing commitment of the Supreme Court to
be a driving force for reform in Indonesia, especially in promoting the
rule of law and human rights.”
“The problem is, you don’t reform institutions overnight,” Cohen
said, “which is why it’s really important that the Supreme Court is
taking this long view.”
Human Rights Courts
In 1999 and 2000, the Indonesian Parliament created a system of
special courts that enabled human rights cases to be brought into the
judicial sphere. Because human rights law had not previously played an
important role in legal education and training in Indonesia, there was
an immediate need to enhance the capacity of the judiciary in dealing
with such cases. The Supreme Court of Indonesia instituted training
programs, in cooperation with various international partners, to address
this need. Since 2003, the East-West Center and the U.C. Berkeley War
Crimes Studies Center have contributed their expertise to such programs,
which were primarily directed at the judges of the Ad Hoc Human Rights
Court and the four regional Human Rights Courts in Jakarta, Surabaya,
Makassar and Medan.
Goals of the Agreement
The June 6 agreement sets out three primary goals:
* To continue and strengthen the ongoing process of training judges in the Human Rights Courts.
* To expand the scope of the previous training program by broadening the range of human rights issues covered by the training beyond the law pertaining to gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity, and by extending the range of participants to include prosecutors, police and investigators of the National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia.
* To develop a comprehensive and long-term “training the trainers” program to provide the foundation for a permanent, ongoing human rights training program staffed fully by Indonesian trainers.
Among the activities to achieve these goals will be a program of
intensive workshops throughout Indonesia combining international and
Indonesian experts; a “train the trainers” program including seminars,
capacity building programs, study visits and professional residencies at
appropriate international institutions; and conferences bringing
together key stakeholders to enhance the coordination and effectiveness
of human rights investigations, prosecutions, and trials.
For more information, please contact Phil Estermann at (808) 944-7464, or estermap@eastwestcenter.org
The EAST-WEST CENTER – http://www.eastwestcenter.org
– is an
education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in
1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and
nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center
contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by
serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and
dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region
and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S.
government, with additional support provided by private agencies,
individuals, foundations, corporations and the governments of the
region.
The ASIAN INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE –
http://www.eastwestcenter.org/research/asian-international-justice-initiative
– is a collaborative project between the East-West Center and the UC
Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center that aims to provide on-the-ground
support for rule-of-law and human-rights initiatives in Asia. Programs
to date have included: legal training in cooperation with the Supreme
Court of Indonesia; producing analytical reports on the Special Panel
for Serious Crimes in Timor-Leste (East Timor); and organizing training
in international humanitarian and criminal law for officials of Khmer
Rouge tribunal in Cambodia and a public education campaign on the
tribunal process.
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