I have been teaching human rights for the last 17 years. Mostly for Norwegian university students, academics, bureaucrats, politicians and activists, but quite many times also for professionals coming from abroad. Some have been Chinese and American, others from the Middle East and Africa, and some have been from Indonesia and Vietnam. I have also had the pleasure of travelling to other countries for teaching and research, which has brought me to Indonesia three times.
The teaching I have done in Indonesia has been for religious leaders and non-governmental organisations, both in Jakarta and in Yogyakarta. And I have on two occasions held lectures for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) at their Centre for Education and Training.
At Kemlu, both during the lectures and in the informal breaks, lunches and dinners, I am still taken by surprise by the internalisation of what seems to be a clear-cut human rights policy. The Indonesians are very proud of their human rights developments the last years, from the end of the Suharto regime. Detailed human rights provisions in the constitution and the laws, a wide range of democratic elections, a free press and a great variety in non-governmental organisations are some of the results. Indonesia is clear on using this as a platform in their foreign policy, for example within the Asean and by establishing new mechanisms, such as the Bali Democracy Forum. Indonesia is in this context benefiting from being the largest Muslim dominated country in the world, the third largest democracy and having a geopolitical role somewhere between the United States and China, and between the Arab world and the Western and the Eastern. The Bandung Spirit, and the focus on human rights and development in the ten points summing up the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference, seems to have woken up from a long sleep.
On the other hand, it is obvious that Indonesia still has challenges in this field. One is on corruption, making it very difficult to fulfil their policies on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Another is on the position of religion in society, not only on opening up for all religions and religious practices, but also on handling the demands from fundamentalist and imposing Muslims and Muslim organisations. This goes hand in hand with striking the right balance between combating terrorism and respecting human rights obligations. And they all sum up in one common challenge: to establish and protect a rock solid human rights culture in the country.
When I arrived Indonesia 15 April 2010, the clashes in the harbour district of Jakarta between police officers and demonstrators gave me an impression of a need for better human rights education not only for the police, but for the people in general. During my stay, the ruling by the Constitutional Court on the blasphemy law of 1965 gave me the impression that human rights arguments still have to be even more internalised by the judges and that some activists need to learn more about tolerance and the necessity of respecting independent courts. And when reading about the pornography law and the wide interpretation it opens up for, I believe there still is a need for human rights awareness and knowledge among politicians, too.
Establishing a human rights culture is not done in one day; huge and long-lasting efforts have to be made. The day I left Jakarta this time, the headlines in the news were on the French President proposing a full ban on the niqab, alongside with the regulations on the hijab. There seems to be a need for more human rights education, not only in Indonesia, but worldwide.