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Indonesia secures seat on UN human rights body
Indonesia returns to the United Nations Human Rights Council for a fifth time after winning the most votes in the Asia-Pacific region in a secret ballot held at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.
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Indonesia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Dian Triansyah Djani (left, midframe) congratulates the Foreign Ministry's Multilateral Affairs Director General, Febrian Ruddyard (center) and Indonesian Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Hasan Kleib (third right) after Indonesia was elected for a fifth time to the UN Human Rights Council in New York, United States, on Oct. 17. (Courtesy of/Indonesian Permanent Mission to the UN)
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ndonesia makes a return to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2020 to 2022 period after securing the most votes in the Asia-Pacific region with the backing of 174 countries, marking its fifth term on the council.
The council is an intergovernmental organ of the UN consisting of 47 UN member states and is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights throughout the world, which includes dealing with situations of human rights violations and making recommendations to address them.
The president of the UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande of Nigeria, announced that Indonesia had obtained 174 votes from 193 UN member countries from a secret ballot held during a UN General Assembly session on Thursday morning in New York (Thursday night in Jakarta).
The country came out well ahead of its competitors in the Asia-Pacific region: Japan and South Korea secured 165 votes each, while the Marshall Islands got 123 votes, followed by Iraq with 121 votes. With only four seats available to the region, Iraq failed to secure a seat at the council.
Indonesia was among the first countries to have served a year on the UN body when it was formed in 2006. It was re-elected for a second time for the 2007 to 2010 period and then again from 2011 to 2014 and 2015 to 2017.
Together with 13 countries from other regions, Indonesia is to begin its fifth term on the council in January 2020.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi welcomed the mandate and said it was further proof that the international community puts its trust in Indonesia. “We are so grateful to not only succeed, but to succeed with the most votes,” she told reporters at press gathering at the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta, on Thursday evening.
