HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION AS A BASIC FOUNDATION OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN INDONESIA 

According to the Human Development Report 2007 launched by the United Nation Development Programme, The Human Development Index for Indonesia is 0.728 which gives the country a rank of 107th out of 177 countries. It is ranked 7th among the South East Asian countries. Nevertheless Indonesia, however, has abundant natural resources, huge human capital and relatively well developed infrastructure as compared to the other South East Asian countries.

The most significant cause for the condition mentioned above is the drawback of sustainable development in Indonesia. Some people strongly believe that raising the challenge of sustainable development can help the Indonesian policy debate go forward in a better direction. At the heart of the problem is how to deal with promoting the sustainable development of Indonesia. One of the best approaches can be viewed from the perspective of human rights protection for the people.

Basically sustainable development encompasses three pillars based on environmental, economic, and social values which are interdependent and mutually reinforcing with human rights. Between sustainable development and human rights there is an inseparable relationship whereas the respect for human rights has been recognized as a prerequisite for development. For instance, people’s ability to participate in sustainable development is hindered when fundamental rights of people are threatened or lack the basic human rights of food, health, education, shelter, freedom of expression and the right to political participation. In another word, without respect for human rights, the ability of people to move to a sustainable future will be hindered.

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