"In creating laws, including the law for protecting human rights, there must be a clear legal substance, legal structure, and legal culture. Our human rights are already clear," he said while delivering a speech at the opening of the 2021 Human Rights Festival, accessed from Jakarta on Wednesday.
Regarding the legal substance, since the reformation, Indonesia has amended the 1945 Constitution and added Articles 28A-28J to ensure human rights in Indonesia, he explained.
The amendment means all laws in Indonesia must refer to the fulfillment and guarantee of human rights protection. All the results of national negotiations regarding the basic elements of human rights have been included in the 1945 Constitution, Mahfud added.
"The concept of human rights before the 1945 Constitutional amendment was a residue of power. However, human rights after the amendment actually reversed this," he remarked.
Indonesia's legal structure has also created guarantees for human rights protection. The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), which used to be based solely on presidential decrees, has now been strengthened by the government and has been given the authority to investigate human rights violations, he pointed out.
The government has also ensured the protection of human rights with the presence of the Constitutional Court, Mahfud said.
If there are government regulations that violate human rights principles, the Constitutional Court can follow up or even cancel the regulations, he explained.
"A Judicial Commission has been established for (those) judges who often violate human rights in making decisions. The Witness and Victim Protection Agency has been established to protect the witnesses,” the minister said.
All of these institutions are a form of a legal structure that guarantees the protection of human rights in Indonesia, he said.
With regard to legal culture, Mahfud said the Medium Term Development Plan (RPJM) has included human rights principles and has adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities.
"It was all adopted when we carried out reforms in 1998-2002," he observed.
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Translator: Putu Indah, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
