Jakarta's Story #6

As per Jakarta’s request, Falkland had organised a conference call with all human rights action groups that had contacted the new regime. Despite advice to the contrary, Jakarta had insisted that the call would be broadcast live on Channel 11. Five different organisations were represented on the call and each was given ten minutes each to present their views and concerns regarding human rights within SA. All five representatives mentioned many cases of people who had been imprisoned (prior to Jakarta’s appointment as leader) without due process and/or a fair trial. Jakarta said that he did not have unlimited funds to investigate every such allegation. He proposed that any organisation or individual could take up the case for one such specific individual currently in jail. There would then be an auction process to determine whose situation would be revisited first. Half of the proceeds would cover the government’s costs for revisiting the particular case (with shortfalls covered in the form of a loan from the bait-ul-maal) and the rest of the money would be set aside for the next case to be re-examined after a similar auction process. Furthermore, the case would be recorded and broadcast live (in the absence of a very strong reason not to do so). One of the human rights activists said that the process could be abused by the government taking control of an organisation, winning the auction process but then represent a very weak case in order to suggest that the original trial had been fair. Jakarta conceded the legitimate concern that had been expressed but said that if that scenario occurred then genuine organisations could then boycott future auctions.

Jakarta also said that he would be willing to sell the right to record and distribute what happens in SA’s jails. And for the right price (again, to be determined by auction) an organisation could obtain the right to covertly monitor the prisoner of its choice.