THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE PROCESS OF ENFORCEMENT OF LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE PROCESS OF ENFORCEMENT OF LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

By: MJ Saptenno

1. INTRODUCTION

Law enforcement and human rights in Indonesia are currently a very interesting issue to study, because in many cases, they have a negative or even unfavorable image in the eyes of the general public. Many people, both lay people and those involved in the legal field, often believe that the law seems to have no meaning or benefit in ensuring its primary goals: the creation of order, security, welfare, justice, and legal certainty.

Law has lost its identity as a vital instrument for organizing and regulating social life. It's ironic, indeed, if we examine and reflect deeply on various events or cases in the legal field, where the enforcement process has revealed scenes that are less than commendable, even disgusting and horrific.

In the law enforcement process, many parties actually play a role, including the government (law enforcement officers; police, prosecutors, judges), and the community itself, which is an integral and inseparable part. The role and responsibility of law enforcement are often delegated entirely to law enforcement officers alone, even though in a democratic state governed by the rule of law, the people or society have very important and decisive functions, roles, and responsibilities.

Law enforcement and human rights will be more meaningful if it is accompanied by various supporting instruments and elements that deserve serious attention from the government or authorities.

Many legal and human rights cases have surfaced involving law enforcement officials, so the spotlight is focused solely on the police, prosecutors, judges, and lawyers directly involved. Ultimately, the public, both individually and collectively, forms their own judgments about law enforcement officials.

It is worth knowing and understanding that in the process of enforcing law and human rights, law enforcement officers are only one important part of a number of other components that have important functions and roles, including: legal regulations, facilities and infrastructure, legal culture and society itself.

In relation to this, before the Ambon City Classis Meeting was held, the Organizing Committee at the Bethel Congregation, in collaboration with the Bethel Congregation's Research and Development Agency (Balitbang), had attempted to conduct a small survey related to legal and human rights issues within the City Classis with the main aim of obtaining real information from the congregation.

This step turned out to have added value because with this small survey we can see that so far almost everyone has been talking about law and human rights, but in reality there are still many people (congregations) and officials, both structural and functional, who do not fully understand properly and correctly about law and human rights.

These preliminary findings are interesting to examine, as how can people (congregation members) effectively fight for their rights when they don't fully understand what those rights are? How can a congregation member demand the enforcement and fulfillment of human rights when they don't even know for certain which institution handles them?

 

2. LEGAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

In general, several prominent legal and human rights issues can be identified. These prominent legal issues in Ambon City include:

1. Land boundary disputes between individuals and between communities
2. Domestic violence
3. Protection of women and children
4. Juvenile delinquency
5. Alcoholic Beverages and Narcotics and Illegal Drugs
6. Infidelity and free sex
7. Divorce
8. Murder
9. Pollution and Environmental Contamination
10. Sexual harassment (especially minors)
11. Violence and Abuse
12. Road traffic violations
13. Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism (KKN)
14. Arbitrary actions by law enforcement officials
15. Extortion
16. The habit of selling land
17. Etc

Human Rights issues that are prominent in Ambon City include:

1. The right to natural resources, especially clean water
2. The right to a clean environment
3. Rights in the political field
4. Rights in the economic sector (getting decent work)
5. The right to receive equal treatment before the law
6. The right to freedom of expression / democracy
7. The right to freedom of expression
8. The right to be free from all forms of torture
9. The right to education
10. Right to information
11. The right to live in prosperity
12. Etc

 

3. FACTORS AFFECTING THE LAW ENFORCEMENT PROCESS

According to Soerjono Soekanto, conceptually there are 5 (five factors) that influence the law enforcement process, including:

1. Legal Rules or Laws
2. Law enforcement officers
3. Facilities and Infrastructure
4. Legal Culture
5. Society (Soerjono Soekanto: 1982)

Legal regulations or laws are often an inhibiting factor that influences the law enforcement process, because the formulation of the norms is unclear, giving rise to interpretations that are sometimes detrimental or unfair.

 Law enforcement officers, who are an important pillar in the law enforcement process, often carry out various actions that are contrary to legal provisions, thus giving rise to various problems.

Inadequate supporting facilities and infrastructure will certainly affect the freedom of movement of law enforcement officers and also members of the public as justice seekers.

The legal culture of society, which is a process of internalizing values ​​in order to understand the law and strive to apply it well for the common good, has not been practiced well.

The public often becomes the cause in the law enforcement process, because they have money, often driven by the desire to win themselves without paying attention to the objective aspects of the law to achieve its goal, namely justice. For example; someone when faced with a civil law case (land issue) and objectively the person concerned does not have strong evidence, in the form of a certificate or other information as the basis for his rights, but because the person concerned has a lot of money, he still insists on taking the case to court. So the important thing is to go to court later, without carefully considering the positive or negative aspects.

 

4. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE PROCESS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS

As explained above, in the law enforcement process, almost all parties have their respective roles and responsibilities, according to their capacity and scope of authority. Therefore, law enforcement is not always carried out formally. This means that it is not solely the responsibility of law enforcement officials, but informally, it is also the responsibility of all parties, including the public. civil society.

It must be acknowledged that so far the view has been that the law enforcement process is only the responsibility of the government which has official apparatus, so that if errors occur in several cases of a casuistic nature, the targets of ridicule are only directed at the police, prosecutors and judges.

Likewise, with the efforts to enforce and fulfill human rights, it turns out that the responsibility lies with the government, law and society (See Law No. 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights). The responsibility of various parties who are important pillars in the enforcement and fulfillment of human rights requires roles that must be played well without having to accuse, but being together in a harmonious procession so that the desired goals or objectives can be achieved.

Jadi civil society In fact, they play very important and decisive roles. This means that informal roles, through various activities that ensure an orderly, safe, and peaceful community life, are a shared responsibility that must be realized in real life.

Some small examples that are often ignored by the public, for example; throwing rubbish on the road while driving or in random places, reprimanding and giving advice to motorcyclists who are reckless on the road, providing motivation to street vendors who sell on shop verandas and on the sidewalk, directing pedicab drivers who enter road lanes that have prohibition signs and so on, are real informal actions.

When other members of society or leaders including servants are faced with such minor cases, and know that it is against the law, but do not give warnings to guide or direct them not to carry out actions that are against the law, then the roles of civil society has not been properly implemented. This is a shared responsibility, not just the responsibility of the Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) or the police alone.

Regarding human rights, several examples can be cited, including: the failure of a number of city residents to register as permanent voters in the 2009 legislative elections and the presidential and vice-presidential elections, resulting in the loss of political rights. Many members of the congregation and community may have lost their livelihoods due to government policies, but they simply resigned themselves to the situation due to certain pressures from the authorities. The distribution of drinking water to Ambon city residents, which should meet certain standards, but turns out to be only suitable for bathing, washing, and toilets and is undrinkable because it contains lime, is actually closely related to human rights. The rights to freedom of expression (democracy) in the household, where children do not have the freedom to express opinions or express themselves due to habits or customs or culture to submit to and obey all parental orders, and there is no room for fair discussion and argument.

There are many other cases that need to be studied and made into a long list, so that they serve as a warning to the authorities that these policies are contradictory and do not guarantee law enforcement and the fulfillment of human rights.

As members of society, regardless of their status, they actually have very important and decisive roles in the process of enforcing law and human rights. This is what is known as a role. civil society in the process of enforcing law and human rights. This means that every component in society that has a commitment, focus, and concern for legal and human rights issues is part of civil society.

Thus, the enforcement of law and human rights is harmonious must be in a harmonious nuance and movement of all components in society, to influence various government policies in the process of enforcing law and human rights.

 

5. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS THAT IS MEANINGFUL AND BENEFICIAL FOR COMMUNITY LIFE

In accordance with its purpose, the law must provide a sense of justice, security, peace, order, prosperity, and legal certainty in society (Dalijo et al.). Fair law enforcement processes will certainly have a positive impact on the enforcement and fulfillment of human rights. There is a very close relationship between law and human rights, because without law, human rights cannot be enforced and fulfilled. The law must be an important instrument that will provide guarantees for the enforcement and fulfillment of human rights. Therefore, the law must be meaningful and beneficial for life together in society. This means that public trust in the law must increase, not the opposite, being eroded due to the actions of a handful of irresponsible individuals.

In today's reality, it can be said that public trust in the law is eroding. This is not actually due to unclear legal regulations and a lack of guarantees for the fulfillment of human rights, but rather to law enforcement officials, including members of the public, who frequently manipulate the law for personal or group interests.

So, what really needs to be the primary focus is the human beings who are the driving force behind the law. Both law enforcement officers and ordinary members of society must be able to promote and mobilize the law for the sake of the law itself and for the sake of humanity and humanity. The mental and moral well-being of individuals, especially law enforcement officers, must be nurtured as best as possible based on religious teachings and aspects related to humanity. So that when carrying out their duties and responsibilities in society, the focus and attention must be on humans as individuals who need to be protected in the legal and human rights fields.

Therefore, the law must be enforced for the sake of order, security, and peace in society. The law must also guarantee justice so that all parties feel they are being treated proportionally based on the principles of justice. The law must promote the welfare of society, both physically and psychologically. This means that with good laws, people will feel more prosperous and happy. The law must also provide certainty so as not to give rise to alternative interpretations that ultimately harm certain parties.

In practice, this is not the case because the law, especially the law, is a political product, so that many normative formulations contain political content according to the interests or desires of certain individuals or groups (Saptenno: 2008).

The fundamental problem related to the above legal objectives actually lies with the humans (law enforcement officers) who hold the law and implement it according to the scope of authority regulated by the law itself. If humans have a good mentality, then bad laws will certainly be corrected to become better, for the benefit of serving humans, both individually and in society in general. If humans have a bad or bad mentality or morals, then good laws will be changed to bad ones, ultimately resulting in injustice and legal uncertainty in society.

 

 

6. THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH AS PART OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING AND THE STRUGGLE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND FULFILLMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The church, both structurally and organizationally, as believers who are called out to bear witness, is actually an important part of civil society. This means that institutionally the church exists together with various other organizations in society, with the main task being to develop people who believe and join it to become church members, as well as members of society who fear God by obeying all of His commandments in the Bible as the Word of God.

If we examine and study it more deeply and  HOLISTIC APPROACH Overall, it appears that the church has effectively played its role in the processes of law enforcement and human rights. Pastors and congregations have effectively carried out their advocacy functions in various sermons from church pulpits and worship services. In an effort to resolve various problems in congregational life, God's servants have undertaken various efforts to uphold law and human rights, both directly and indirectly.

The Word of God that is conveyed actually contains noble messages of law and human rights, but in reality not all members of the congregation, including the servants themselves, internalize and practice it well, in their lives together as members of the congregation and members of society.

The church has effectively played an educational and teaching role in legal and human rights issues. Regarding human rights, Bagir Manan (2001:60) states that another way to actualize human rights is by embodying human rights as a social order, that is, as something that lives within society, both in the political, economic, and social contexts. Within this framework, human rights community education needs to be carried out continuously.

However, it must be acknowledged that there are still many things lacking, because the results of a survey of several congregations in the Ambon City Classis area, both servants and congregation members in various strata, do not fully understand the true meaning or significance of law, as well as human rights, both formal and material.

Regarding the purpose of the law, the majority of respondents, or 89,80%, admitted to knowing about the purpose of the law. When linked to the behavior of society at all levels, it can be said that this knowledge is merely a formality. The influence of law in organizing people's lives is that 80,11% of respondents said that laws have an influence, but 2,15% said that laws have no influence, while 6,99% said they did not know. Regarding law enforcement, it turns out that 60,75% of respondents said that law enforcement is not optimal. Regarding impressions, it turns out that 21,51% have a negative impression of the law, while 17,74% said law enforcement is good. There is a real awareness in society that law enforcement is the responsibility of all elements or 77,42%, while regarding the performance of law enforcement officers, 38,17% said the performance was good, while 47,31% said the performance of law enforcement officers was poor and 9,14% said the performance was bad. The most prominent issues in Ambon City are criminal matters, with a percentage of 58,60%. The public is fully aware that the responsibility of institutions to participate in providing solutions to resolve legal problems lies with the government, the church, and the community, with a percentage of 62,90%. The government itself received the primary spotlight as the responsible party, with 31,18%.

Public legal awareness to report various cases that occur in their environment. 51,10% of respondents often have contact with the RT/RW, while 40% have contact with the police.

Based on the survey results above, it can be said that the public still places its hopes on law enforcement officials to enforce the law effectively, even though in reality, they still assess their performance as being less than satisfactory or even poor. The hope for resolving legal cases lies not only with the government, but also with the church and the community itself. This is interesting to examine because legal cases can actually be resolved persuasively and peacefully, and therefore do not always have to be resolved formally through government institutions.

The survey results related to human rights show that there are members of the community or congregation who do not know anything about human rights (0,54%), while 54,30% of respondents know about human rights from various media including textbooks. 77,96% of respondents said they really understand human rights, while 15,59% said they don't understand much and 3,76% said they don't understand human rights at all, the rest did not provide an answer. Related to the need for human rights protection, 94,09% said there is a need for human rights protection, 0,54% did not need to say and 5,38% did not provide an answer. For the fulfillment of human rights, 99,46% said it is necessary to fulfill it, while 0,54% said it is not necessary. Responsibility related to human rights issues is still given to the Government, Legal Institutions and the community (47,30%). Many respondents (59%) had no experience or experience with human rights cases. Human rights violations were mostly directed at legal institutions (24,73%) and the government (17%).

An interesting finding is that 63,44% of respondents answered that the church as an institution also has the potential to commit human rights violations, but 77,56% of respondents acknowledged the church's role in fighting for human rights. Human rights violations against vulnerable groups such as women and children are very likely to occur, as seen from 91,40% of respondents admitting it, while 8,40% were not sure it happened.

In an effort to protect human rights, the institutions that provide first aid are the Head of the Neighborhood Association 38,17%, the Police 28,49%, the Church 5,91%, the Village Government 8,06%, and the Regional National Commission 1,61%.

Regarding human rights, although in reality almost everyone is struggling with these problems, and even people are quick to mention them in their congregational and social interactions, they do not yet fully understand human rights.

Steven Tong (1999: 6-7) stated that human rights are indeed given by God, but these rights have been abused by humans. He further emphasized that humans are the image and example of God, so humans are valuable and cannot be replaced with money. Thus, God is the parent of value, and humans are the embodiment of God's glory.

Pancasila contains values ​​that emphasize respect and appreciation for human rights. Regarding the belief in the One Almighty God, Mak Oemar Senoadji stated that rights are primary cause or the main and first cause, as the origin of all life that teaches equality, justice, compassion and a peaceful life and all of this is a recognition of human rights. (Oemar Senoadji in Ramlon Naning: 1983: 32).

Current efforts to enforce and protect the law and human rights in Indonesia, and in Ambon City in particular, have not been implemented optimally in accordance with applicable legal provisions and societal values. This remains largely at the discourse level, but concrete actions fall far short of the public's expectations of peace, justice, prosperity, and legal certainty.            

 

 

7. CLOSEUP

Based on the above descriptions, it can be concluded that law enforcement and human rights protection efforts will be successful if the mental and moral attitudes of law enforcement officials, the community (members of the congregation), and all other components of society change in line with the social and religious values ​​prevailing in society. Therefore, in essence, law enforcement and human rights enforcement efforts depend on humans as the ones in control of all aspects of community life, including congregational life.

The church has played an active role as part of civil society, but requires a more real role and responsibility, so that it becomes a respected institution in social, national and state life.

Harmonious law enforcement and human rights will be created if all components are united and in a struggle to achieve the desired goals or objectives, namely the interests of humans and humanity.

These are some of the main points we can present for discussion. Hopefully, this is helpful. Shalom.