Retno L.P. Marsudi, Oslo
Indonesia and Norway will hold their fifth bilateral human rights dialogue in Jakarta on April 27 and 28. How are bilateral relations between the two countries, and how could human rights cooperation contribute to their betterment?
From a geographical point of view, it is indeed true that Indonesia lies far from Norway. However, this should not hamper efforts to strengthen bilateral relations based on common interests and mutual respect. Nonetheless, it is also true that both countries need to find a common point of cooperation within the needs and capacities of each other. A cooperative effort that is unplanned and too wide ranging will only consume much energy and will not bring much benefit to the people.
Against this backdrop, Indonesia and Norway agree on the need for regular bilateral consultations, as they provides an avenue to discuss priorities of bilateral relations. The idea for having regular bilateral consultations was first suggested at a meeting between Indonesian and Norwegian foreign ministers in Jakarta in February 2004. The first consultation was held in 2005 at a senior official level, while the second was held at the ministerial level in January 2006, when Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda met his counterpart Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Oslo.
As result of those consultations, both governments agreed relations should be focused on certain areas, such as the environment, forestry (illegal logging), marine and fisheries and energy. Those areas of cooperation are in addition to trade which has shown a significant increase in the last couple years. Political relations between the two countries are amicable at the moment, and are conducive to such discussions being successful and beneficial economically to both sides.
However, it does not mean that cooperation in the political field is neglected. To this end, human rights remains one of the pillars of political cooperation between Indonesia and Norway. Both agreed to have a human rights dialogue annually. Both have observed that dialogue paves the way for discussions on human rights issues of common interest and to outline future cooperation. For five years, capacity building has remained the major activity of human rights cooperation. Exchanges of experts, training for police and judicial officials, scholarships for post graduate students from Indonesia and cooperation between universities in developing human rights studies are now common.
For Indonesia, the promotion of universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms has become one of the government's top priorities. Though Indonesia is yet to be perfect in its promotion and protection of human rights, it should be noted that the human rights situation in Indonesia has achieved much progress and is now on the right track.
To execute this plan, Indonesia has opened its door as wide as possible to develop cooperation with all players at different levels, domestic and international. Against this backdrop, the cooperation with Norway will help support Indonesia's undertaking to promote and protect human rights.
Norway is also a country with a strong attachment to promoting human rights.
During the last four years, human rights cooperation has focused on promoting human rights in the judicial apparatus, the role of police and military in strengthening human rights, the fight against corruption and international crime, among others.
The discussion of freedom of expression and freedom of religion will be a timely one. This particular issue became even more important after furor over the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. The caricatures only proved that misunderstanding of culture and values remains, and respect for others is yet materialized.
Norway has shown its willingness to build cooperation with Indonesia in a bid to promote understanding, respect and tolerance.
To this end, the human rights dialogue could provide a springboard to fulfill the idea. The bilateral idea of having an inter-media dialog should be strongly supported. It is fervently hoped that the inter-media dialog could foster mutual understanding and respect among journalists from different cultures and eventually bridge differences of understanding in exercising of freedom of speech and promoting tolerance.
Norway could also support the idea of Indonesia establishing an International Center for Religious and Cultural cooperation. The bilateral meeting between the two Foreign Ministers in Oslo discussed this issue and it is now high time it is followed up.
Cooperation to promote tolerance amongst different religious and cultures should be encouraged by all of us. Its attainment will certainly contribute to creating and maintaining peace. And I believe that Norway and Indonesia could be at the very forefront of that cooperation.
The writer is the Ambassador of Indonesia to Norway. The article represents her personal views.
