JAKARTA – Counsellor (Development) and Head of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) at the Canadian Embassy, Ms. Patricia McCullagh, First Secretary & Human Security Advisor of the Embassy of Switzerland, Mr. Georg Stein, and Counsellor for Cooperation of the French Embassy, Mr. Stéphane Foin, officially opened today in Jakarta the third Sekolah Hak Asasi Manusia untuk Mahasiswa (SeHAMA), or Human Rights School for University Students. Organized by the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) and supported by the Embassies of Canada, Switzerland and France, SeHAMA will provide necessary knowledge and skills for select university students from across Indonesia to monitor human rights issues as well as implement human rights principles in their respective regions.

“The Embassy of Canada is pleased to be partnering for a third year with KontraS on the implementation of the human rights training program for university students, and we are delighted that this year we could join forces with the Embassies of Switzerland and France to support such an important initiative,” said Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Mackenzie Clugston.

“Switzerland is convinced that SeHAMA greatly contributes to enhancing the awareness of the Indonesian society for human rights and to their further implementation,” said Swiss Ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Heinz Walker-Nederkoorn.

 “The Embassy of France believes that in order to make Human Rights a reality the utmost necessity is to impulse cooperation between all the relevant actors and see to it that they work in partnership. In this respect, we consider the civil society as a key player that needs to be encouraged and supported. Aiming at empowering the new generations so that they can actually make a difference on the major issues of human rights, SeHAMA project is a brilliant example of civil society’s dynamism and creativity. We are also convinced that the actors sharing the same values and the same commitment should put in common their efforts; this is the reason why we are both happy and honoured to work side by side with Canada and Switzerland in supporting this project,” said Counsellor Foin.

Started in 2009, SeHAMA is a 3-week human rights training course for 30 select students from different universities across Indonesia. The program includes lectures and discussions, field investigation and analysis, institutional visits and dialogue with victims of human rights violations and members of minority groups. The participants will also have an opportunity to live in and interact closely with an indigenous community to learn more about indigenous people’s rights.

KontraS is one of Indonesia’s leading human rights NGOs. Established during the Soeharto regime in order to advocate for the resolution of cases of serious human rights violations such as forced disappearances, it has now shifted its focus towards demanding state accountability, justice and rehabilitation of victims’ rights. KontraS is currently engaged in a campaign called Human Loves Human – a motto that rejects violence, nurtures freedom and aims at increasing understanding of human rights among young adults in Indonesia.