Jakarta, March 2 -- Deputy Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Lestari Moerdijat called for a stronger commitment to protecting and fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities.

This was said following findings of the alleged confinement of nearly 20,000 persons with mental disabilities in several social care institutions, revealed by the Indonesian Mental Health Association (PJS).

"The fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities in all aspects of community life must be carried out with full commitment, since both the law and the Constitution mandate it," she said in a statement in Jakarta on Monday.

According to her, these alleged cases of violence must be immediately addressed with concrete steps by r...