Democratic Backsliding Focal Point in LBH Jakarta's Year-end Report

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) on Friday launched its 2020 year-end report on legal and human rights issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic and concluded that democracy has deteriorated. 

Their report found that the most frequent problem happening in 2020 were civil and political rights with 273 reported cases.

“We’re talking about fair trials, the right to express oneself, including the rights to privacy and participate in governance. These have emerged this year,” said LBH Jakarta director Arif Maulana in today’s virtual press conference. 

Beneath the political civil issues, there were 223 cases involving economic and socio-cultural violations closely related to the fulfillment of education, the right to work, the right to a healthy environment, and other public services. 

Arif said LBH Jakarta’s year-end report focused on the issue of democracy in the middle of oligarchs and the pandemic. He claimed democracy had worsened and even signalled accelerated backsliding. 

He believed this situation was closely related to the administration led by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin, which he said had issued policies that contradicted their principles.

Read: Setbacks in Indonesian Democracy Accelerated by Pandemic: LP3ES Study

EGI ADYATAMA