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Indonesia secures seat on UN human rights body
We did it: 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, the United States, on Thursday
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e did it: 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, the United States, on Thursday.(Courtesy of Indonesian Permanent Mission to the UN)
Indonesia 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 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 reelected 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 LP 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 a press gathering at the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta, on Thursday evening.
Since last year, she said, the ministry had been actively campaigning for support at all levels, including at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in September and the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council in March, during which the minister held more than 50 meetings with ministers, deputy ministers and ambassadors from various UN member states.
“To all the friendly countries who had lent their support to Indonesia, we assure you that Indonesia will be your true partner for human rights development and social justice,” she said.
As the highest governing body for human rights in the international multilateral system, Indonesia’s reelection to the council would likely be seen as a crowning achievement for Retno in her role as top diplomat, just days ahead of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s inauguration ceremony and the announcement of his new Cabinet lineup.
While the government would have more opportunities to pursue its national interests on the rights council, the minister insists Indonesia would continue to work with other countries to promote and protect human rights.
“Indonesia will also have a greater opportunity to push the UN Human Rights Council to be more effective and efficient, more objective, transparent, fair and nonpolitical, as well as being impartial and open to dialogue with all parties — not to mention results-oriented,” she said.
Furthermore, 2020 is to be the year that Indonesia serves on both the UN Human Rights Council based in Geneva, Switzerland and the UN Security Council based in New York, the United States. Retno said Indonesia was committed to helping bridge the work of the two UN organs.
A former Indonesian ambassador to the UN, Makarim Wibisono, said Indonesia should pursue a more efficient working method at the council while also addressing unresolved human rights issues such as Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
“Indonesia should focus more on resolving long-standing problems in other countries — we do not want human rights violations to be tolerated,” said the former UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Indonesia’s successful bid has served to assuage previous concerns that the campaign was at risk of being overshadowed by efforts to “internationalize” the recent spate of violent unrest in Papua, as well as repressive actions taken by the government and security forces against student rallies across the archipelago.
Now that Indonesia sits on the Human Rights Council, it is afforded the opportunity to better explain the domestic situation to the international community, Makarim said.
Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said Indonesia’s participation in and membership on the council was important for safeguarding the promotion and protection of human rights domestically.
“It will serve as a tie that binds Indonesia to continue trying to improve the state of human rights in the country,” Usman told The Jakarta Post.
“By improving human rights conditions domestically, Indonesia can play a greater role on the global stage, especially in responding to the human rights situations in Myanmar, Syria and Palestine.” (glh)
