Indonesia's appointment to UN rights body welcomed<\/p>\n
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Several human rights campaigners welcomed on Tuesday the
\nappointment of Indonesia's Makarim Wibisono as a new chairman of
\nthe UN Human Rights Commission and asked the government to soon
\ntake action to improve the country's human rights record.<\/p>\n
Coordinator for Indonesia's NGO Coalition for International
\nHuman Rights Advocacy Rafendi Djamin said that Makarim's
\nappointment could be used as good momentum for Indonesia in
\nadvancing human rights.<\/p>\n
\"Being appointed to chair such a top position, the government
\nneeds to utilize this momentum to improve its human rights image
\non the international level,\" Rafendi told participants of a
\nseminar on human rights issues.<\/p>\n
He said that the new chairman had to explain Indonesia's
\nposition on several international issues.<\/p>\n
At home, said Rafendi, the government had to show its
\ncommitment to resolving the \"residual problems\" on a number of
\nalleged human rights violations, such as the Tanjung Priok affair
\nand East Timor massacre and the death of prominent rights
\ncampaigner Munir.<\/p>\n
Makarim, the Indonesian ambassador to the United Nations in
\nGeneva, was appointed on Monday as chairman of the UN Rights
\nCommission. He succeeds Ambassador Mike Smith of Australia.<\/p>\n
The job, which lasts for one year, traditionally rotates among
\nambassadors of the five geographical groupings in the United
\nNations.<\/p>\n
Makarim had been proposed by the Asian group of UN members and
\nwas appointed by consensus among the 53 commission member
\nnations, ranging from Argentina to Zimbabwe. Other current
\nmembers include Brazil, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan
\nand the United States.<\/p>\n
This year the annual session of the commission - the top UN
\nhuman rights watchdog - will open on March 14.<\/p>\n
Loubna Freih, spokeswoman for the advocacy group Human Rights
\nWatch was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that she hoped
\nMakarim would \"be as fair a chairman as possible.\"<\/p>\n
Freih added that Indonesia's own record also need to be
\nscrutinized.<\/p>\n
Campaigners have long cited rights abuses by Indonesia's
\nmilitary in regions across the country, including the war against
\nthe separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh. They also point
\nto abuses by the military in West Papua and in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Indonesian authorities have rejected claims of human rights
\nviolations, saying that the security forces were obliged to take
\naction against separatists to protect the country's territorial
\nintegrity.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy
\nResearch and Advocacy Ifdhal Kasim expressed concern over the
\nefforts of several member countries to terminate the monitoring
\nfunction of the UN Human Rights Commission.<\/p>\n
\"One critical task for Pak Makarim is to reactivate the
\nmonitoring team of the Commission as many member countries want
\nto terminate it,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesias-appointment-to-un-rights-body-welcomed-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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