The Dialogue between Indonesia and Norway was initiated in 2002. It consists of political consultations, an annual dialogue meeting and an increasing number of activities focused on human rights.
28/05/2007 :: Indonesia has presented a Plan of Action for Human Rights in which various measures to build a state based on rule of law have a central role. Since the upstart, the dialogue has reflected a commitment to supporting this goal. The first dealt with the prosecuting authority and the legal system’s ability to prosecute and punish human rights violations. The second dealt with anti-corruption efforts in the legal system. The delegations were headed by politicians. The third dialogue meeting was held in Jakarta in 2004. At this meeting the focus was on efforts to strengthen general principles of the rule of law in two working groups. The fourth dialogue meeting was held in Oslo in April 2005. Indonesian participation in Oslo was also strong, comprising the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Director General of Public Prosecution and the head of the Parliament’s Justice Committee. Representatives of the military forces and the police also attended the meeting. The conference was divided into a plenary session and working groups, where the topics were various aspects of the activities of the judicial apparatus in efforts to promote human rights, and the role of the police and the military forces in strengthening human rights
Since Indonesia partook so actively at the dialogue meeting in 2005, in addition to the conference itself, it spanned a number of excursions for the various participant groups. These excursions shed light on Norway’s effort seeks to comply with international human rights norms in the police, prosecuting authority and prison system, the courts of law in general and the Supreme Court in particular. Various initiatives to efforts to publish and raise awareness about judgments, the fight against corruption and international crime, and the work of voluntary human rights organisations in Norway, were shown as well.
Dialogue with Indonesia also focuses on corruption. This includes corruption within the legal system, as it undermines legal safeguards and the independence of the courts. Human rights dialogue also encompasses further support to strengthen the democratisation process in Indonesia. The human rights dialogue with Indonesia is affected by the fact that the number of Norwegian experts with knowledge of the country and their opportunities to engage in dialogue activities are limited. The Indonesia Programme at the Centre for Human Rights, which was established for this reason in 2002, has continued throughout 2004 and 2005. The programme focuses on human rights education, judicial reform, human rights in conflict areas and strengthening expertise on Indonesia in Norway. There is a close connection between the topics that are dealt with in human rights dialogue and the areas in which the Indonesia Programme is engaged.