TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) along with a number of institutions agreed to urge the government to immediately ratify the optional protocol to the convention against torture (OPCAT).

“This OPCAT is one of the instruments to ensure the prevention of persecution acts,” said the Komnas Ham’s external deputy chairman Amiruddin in a teleconference on Thursday, June 25.

OPCAT emerged to complement efforts to prevent torture based on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Komnas HAM along with the National Commission of Anti-Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), the Indonesian Children's Protection Commission (KPAI), the Indonesian Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), and Ombudsman was still receiving complaints of torture in detention centers and prisons, as well as the death penalty.

To prevent the practice of persecution from happening, Amiruddin said the five institutions planned to hold dialogues with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Legal, and Security Affairs, and the Parliament to develop initiatives to ratify the OPCAT.

“Our efforts to minimize persecution acts can only be achieved together,” Amiruddin remarked.

Read: National Police Respond to Plethora of Human Rights Complaints

FRISKI RIANA