TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Commissioner for the Study and Research, Sandrayati Moniaga, highlighted the absence of legal rules related to the recognition, respect, and protection of human rights defenders.

“There is a legal gap which in this case a legal vacuum for human rights defenders,” said Sandrayati in the discussion on state political commitment and the urgency of policy to protect human rights defenders, Thursday, January 27.

She added that the commission is still discussing with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights about the rule so as to provide a strong position for human rights defenders in the law.

“But the situation in Indonesia shows that human rights defenders are in a vulnerable position to be threatened or attacked while defending human rights, so they need to get special protection,” Sandrayati underlined.

Thus, she assessed that one of the challenges ahead is the need to create synergy between the government and various related parties to conduct in-depth studies and develop a comprehensive design related to the protection system for human rights defenders.

“The last thing is to ensure that there are emergency steps from the relevant parties to protect human rights defenders, including activists, journalists, advocates, employees, and members of independent human rights institutions,” Sandrayati concluded.

Read: Mahfud MD: Govt Promises to Support, Protect Human Rights Defenders

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