Indonesia and Australia support access to justice for people with disabilities

Australia and Indonesia are working together to help people with disability overcome major obstacles many face in navigating Indonesia’s justice system.

These obstacles include some courts not accepting evidence via sign interpreters, or not allowing testimonies from blind witnesses because they did not “witness” the incident.

On Thursday, 13 March 2014, the Indonesian Forum for Disability Integration and Advocacy, SIGAB, signed a Memorandum of Understand with Indonesia’s Judicial Commission to work with Indonesia’s courts to promote equal access to justice for people with disability.

‘Together with the Judicial Commission, we will monitor the courts and help them make the justice system more sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities,’ said Joni Yulianto, the Director of SIGAB.

The initiative is supported by the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Justice, a program supported by the Australian Government and Indonesia’s Ministry for National Development Planning (Bappenas).

“Australia is pleased to support this important partnership between the Indonesian Judicial Commission and Indonesia’s disability community advocates,” Australian Ambassador Greg Moriarty said.

“Like Indonesia, Australia has recently ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and we are proud to join forces to promote development that pays attention to the needs of people with disabilities,” he said.

The MOU was signed at a seminar on “Access to Justice for People with a Disability” in Yogyakarta. The Head of the Judical Commission, Dr Suparman Marzuki, gave a keynote speech to the seminar.

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