Discussing the Role of the State in Ensuring Human Rights Protection, DPP FISIPOL UGM Held Public Lecture with Practitioners

Yogyakarta, February 14th 2025─The public lecture titled “Holding the State Accountable: Human Right Commitments and Institutional Responsibility” discussed the role of the state and its institutions in ensuring the protection of human rights. Through discussions with human rights practitioners, the lecture looked at the state’s commitment and institutional accountability in ensuring human rights in Indonesia.

Human rights cannot be implemented when there is no mechanism, or when the mechanism for implementing human rights is weak. Although human rights mechanisms have been regulated at the international level such as the Paris Principles, every time there is a human rights violation at the domestic level, the resolution takes precedence over national mechanisms. Meanwhile, national human rights protection institutions vary from the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Komisi Kebenaran dan Rekonsiliasi). For this reason, the seminar organized by the study program of the Department of Politics and Government at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of UGM aims to examine the standards of work carried out by human rights protection institutions in Indonesia.

The event was held offline in the East Seminar Room of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM by inviting Anis Hidayah (Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission), Andy Yetriyani (Chairperson of Komnas Perempuan) as speakers and moderated by Dr. Rangga Dachlan (Lecturer at Faculty of Law UGM). Anis Hidayah opened the general class with an elaboration of the functions of the National Human Rights Commission in order to uphold human rights as mandated by the legislation. In 2024, the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM)  initiated an assessment of the implementation of human rights protection to ministries and state institutions.

“Starting last year, we conducted human rights assessments or audits on 7 national institutions which were seen from several aspects such as the assessment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to freedom of assembly, expression, and open discussion, the right to health, the right to education, and the right to work,” Anis said in her presentation.

This public lecture served as a platform for reflection on the role of the state and its institutions in ensuring the protection of human rights. By encouraging discussions between experts, academics, and the public, the event aims to contribute to a broader discourse on strengthening human rights mechanisms in Indonesia and beyond.