Chief Justice Anwar Usman opening a constitution awareness program for constitution village apparatuses and figures, Monday (11/28/2022) at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Bogor. Photo by MKRI/Teguh.

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Tuesday, November 29, 2022 | 12:31 WIB

(MKRI) — Chief Justice Anwar Usman opened a constitution awareness program (PPHKWN) for constitution village apparatuses and figures on Monday, November 28, 2022 at the Pancasila and Constitution Education Center, Bogor, West Java.

In his speech, he said that village governments and indigenous peoples are the basic entities for the formation of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). Indonesia, consisting of no less than 17 thousand islands, more than 700 ethnicities, and over 400 active regional languages, was formerly indigenous peoples who lived in rural areas and separately from each other. These indigenous peoples and villages had been formed long before the NKRI, even before the kingdoms of olden days we know in history textbooks.

Indigenous peoples and rural villages, he added, have also become a topic worldwide. The importance of recognition of indigenous peoples is often associated with traditional rights. This always leads to discussion because, on the one hand, indigenous peoples/villages are recognized politically and legally and guaranteed by the Constitution but, on the other hand, they are marginalized groups that often face difficulties to get their traditional rights respected. He also asserted that protecting the rights of indigenous peoples who live in rural areas is a responsibility and a consequence of constitutionalism that the drafters of the 1945 Constitution intended.

Chief Justice Anwar He added that the Constitution must be treated as ‘a living constitution’ whose values ​​and norms will always be ‘alive’ in the sense that they are always developing and enriched with new values ​​and systems based on the implementation of it and on real experiences in everyday life. Therefore, the Constitution must be understood not only textually but also as a living document that continues to grow and develop following the changing conditions, needs, and values ​​of society.

“Even though normatively the Constitution has provided guarantee and protection for all citizens without exception, including people who live in villages, it is elaborated in various laws and regulations, which demand that we carefully follow the dynamics of its development,” he said.

Thus, he asked that the constitutional rights of rural villages and customary law (indigenous) communities that have been guaranteed in the Constitution not be neglected. This requires attention, cooperation, and commitment.

The program will take place on Monday to Thursday, November 28 to December 12 at the Pancasila and the Constitution in Cisarua, Bogor. Thirty-five participants—apparatuses of five constitution villages—will follow presentations on the implementation of Pancasila values, the Constitution and constitutionalism, and many more.

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 11/30/2022 15:18 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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