Indonesia’s 2017 foreign policy priorities do little to move away from the common paradigm of peacekeeping, economy building and maintaining regional peace and security, while failing to focus on the promotion and protection of human rights, a rights activist has said
ndonesia’s 2017 foreign policy priorities do little to move away from the common paradigm of peacekeeping, economy building and maintaining regional peace and security, while failing to focus on the promotion and protection of human rights, a rights activist has said.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi conveyed on Tuesday her annual press statement on foreign policy, which is used as an opportunity to review the previous year’s achievements and recalibrate the country’s diplomatic endeavors moving forward.
The minister outlined 14 foreign policy priorities in her speech, but failed to make human rights the main thread of diplomatic efforts, according to the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG).
This year, Indonesia’s diplomatic corps is still very much focused on accelerating development, as envisioned by the government of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, HRWG executive director Muhammad Hafiz insisted.
“Human rights should be the cornerstone of every policy, including foreign diplomacy. We need to acknowledge that the basic problem plaguing the world today is the rise of a conservatism that comes out of a democratically elected regime that doesn’t place human rights front and center,” Hafiz told The Jakarta Post in a statement on Wednesday.
He said Indonesia was among a handful of emerging global democracies that bore the “soft powers” of democracy and respect for human rights, which has vastly changed the map of international politics and diplomacy — as a country strengthens and emerges as a new power, it has more responsibility to its people in developing democracy and human rights.
“If the Indonesian government does not make human rights a focus in policymaking, then the country will likely stutter in addressing issue of increasing intolerance in the world. Take for example the politicization of religion; without any rights-based argument, our democracy will be trapped in a tyranny of the majority,” Hafiz said.
The rights activist did, however, convey his appreciation for the Indonesian government’s diplomatic forays, especially on the issue of Palestinian self-determination, and in addressing the plight of the Rohingya minority group in Myanmar.
During the closing months of last year, Minister Retno readily took on the mantle of an honest broker in aiding ASEAN neighbor Myanmar, which was accentuated by her effective shuttle diplomacy between Myanmar, Bangladesh and ASEAN as a whole.
Her multiple visits to Myanmar showed Indonesia’s sincere concern over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region, Hafiz said. The activist urged Indonesia to make use of rights-based arguments going forward.
During Tuesday’s speech, Retno underscored the role Indonesia will play, with a promise to engage more with ASEAN ahead of its 50th anniversary celebrations later this year.
She also highlighted Indonesia’s role in alleviating the plight of residents of the troubled Rakhine state, which included sending 10 containers of humanitarian aid at the end of last year.
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