Efforts to Protect and Uphold Human Rights: Formulation of Laws and Regulations on Human Rights

 By  Akhmad Zamroni

Source: https www.duq.edu

The existence of laws and regulations on human rights (HAM) is very important in efforts to protect and enforce human rights. Without laws and regulations that guarantee the existence of citizens' human rights with all their problems, all efforts to protect and enforce human rights are meaningless. Without a law that contains provisions on human rights, efforts to protect and enforce human rights will be very weak and can easily be countered or suffer stagnation because they do not have a valid and strong legal basis.

Therefore, since entering the reform era in 1998, various laws and regulations on human rights have been enacted. Through the initiative of the DPR and the government, a number of laws and regulations on human rights and other related matters have been passed. The statutory regulations that have been established are Law no. 5 of 1998 (concerning Ratification of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment), Law no. 9 of 1998 (on Freedom to Express Opinions in Public), Law no. 39 of 1999 (concerning Human Rights), Law no. 26 of 2000 (concerning Human Rights Courts), as well as Presidential Decree No. 181 of 1998 (concerning the National Commission on Violence against Women). Other laws and regulations that are also enforced are as follows:

•    UU No. 8/1999 concerning Consumer Protection,

•    UU No. 19/1999 concerning Ratification of ILO Convention No. 105 concerning the Elimination of Workers by Force,

•    UU No. 21/1999 concerning Ratification of ILO Convention No. 11 on Discrimination in Employment,

•    UU No. 29/1999 concerning Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, as well

•    Keppres No. 31/2001 concerning the Establishment of a Human Rights Court at the Central Jakarta District Court, the Surabaya District Court, and the Makassar District Court.

 

Prior to the emergence of these laws and regulations, we already had the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia (UUD Negara RI 1945) which also contained provisions regarding the rights of citizens. As a result of pressure for reform, the provisions of citizens' rights in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia were further deepened through amendments. This is done to strengthen the legal basis for preventing the recurrence of human rights violations such as during the Old and New Order periods as well as strengthening efforts to protect and enforce human rights for the future.

The existence of all these laws and regulations clearly determines the success of efforts to protect, enforce, improve and promote human rights in our country. Its presence is the legal basis for all these efforts. It is hoped that the existence of laws and regulations will make all efforts to improve and advance human rights conditions more legitimate and convincing.