RI promotes rights within and without<\/p>\n
Indonesian diplomat Makarim Wibisono has been appointed as the
\nnew chairman of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. He
\nwill lead the 61st session of the commission in March in Geneva.
\nThe Jakarta Post's Adianto P. Simamora spoke with Makarim to
\nlearn more about his views about the commission. The following
\nare excerpts from the interview.<\/p>\n
Question: What is the strategic value of Indonesia chairing the
\ncommission?<\/p>\n
Answer: Since it became a member of the UN Human Rights
\nCommission in 1991 Indonesia has often been questioned about its
\nhuman rights record. But relations have changed. We are no longer
\na target country. Indonesia will become a leader in managing the
\ncommission and also providing it with a vision. This reflects the
\nnew trust in Indonesia from the international community that is
\nalso related to the democratic processes in this country.<\/p>\n
Human rights issues have changed much since the establishment
\n(of the commission) in 1946. In the past, human rights issues
\nwere solved in a spirit of cooperation to achieve the promotion
\nand protection of human rights, but in later years these issues
\nwere often used by certain countries to defend their own
\ninterests and shame other nations.<\/p>\n
This politicization has made discussions about human rights
\ninto wars of words. We can't discuss these issues quietly or
\ncivilly any more.<\/p>\n
I want to return the commission to focusing on its main
\nsubstantive goal and I see several ways we can achieve this,
\nnamely;<\/p>\n
Firstly, through the efforts of the people who sit on the high
\ncommission for human rights.<\/p>\n
Secondly, by improving the role played by the commission.<\/p>\n
Thirdly, by working to create an advisory council to alter the
\nrole of the sub-commission on the promotion and protection of
\nhuman rights.<\/p>\n
There are many ideas about how to improve the commission in
\nthe future. This is a golden opportunity for us. The world's
\nsituation has changed, and that is why the Human Rights
\nCommission must also change to advance and uphold human rights
\nrather than politicize them.
\nGiven that Indonesia's human rights record is still poor, will
\nthis be a burden in your new job?<\/p>\n
Our leadership of the commission is a two-fold opportunity.<\/p>\n
On one hand, we can use this momentum to boost awareness and
\nunderstanding of human rights issues in Indonesia so as to make
\nmore advances in the promotion and protection of human rights in
\nour country.<\/p>\n
At the same time, we can show the international community that
\nIndonesia is engaged in a process toward a full democracy. If we
\nshow human rights abuses as residual cases, we can show that
\nwhile Indonesia might not have been perfect in the past, it is
\nnow in a transitional period and in the future will progress from
\ngood to perfect.<\/p>\n
We need to explain this perspective (to the international
\ncommunity) because in my understanding there is a positive
\ncorrelation between a country's democratic processes and its
\nhuman rights record.<\/p>\n
There are calls from several UN members to eliminate the
\nmonitoring mechanism of the commission.<\/p>\n
There are three main functions of the commission: The
\npromotion, monitoring and the capacity building of member
\ncountries. So if we want to bring the commission function back to
\nits core we should support these three points without shaming
\ncertain countries.<\/p>\n
In my opinion, the monitoring mechanism cannot be separated
\nfrom the commission's duties. These above three functions must be
\nadvanced together.<\/p>\n
What about the counter-terrorism measures taken by several
\ncountries, aren't these against human rights?<\/p>\n
There are two sides to this argument. Terrorism that kills
\npeople without discrimination is clearly against human rights; we
\nneed to understand this so we can support actions against it.<\/p>\n
At the same time, there is also a tendency to use issues of
\ncounter-terrorism as pretexts to justify efforts to limit the
\nrights of people, such as by limiting privacy rights.<\/p>\n
If we talk about terrorism and human rights, we must have a
\nclear vision of what we will support and what we have to avoid.
\nWe support efforts to avoid the taking of more innocent lives.
\nBut we must avoid overreacting in the name of counter-terrorism.<\/p>\n
What is your opinion about the \"critical country resolution\"
\nunder Item 9? Some have proposed that it be eliminated?<\/p>\n
When the commission was established in 1946, there was no Item
\n9 yet. So in the past it was all about standards setting.<\/p>\n
Item 9 is related to the discussion of human rights violations
\nin certain countries, but recently the discussions of this item
\ntook hours or even days to only discuss the so-called country-
\nspecific resolutions.<\/p>\n
Under the item, if we talk about the human rights violations
\nsuch as torture, we will see the same violations not only in one
\ncountry but in many countries. So it became about thematic talks.<\/p>\n
But in its development, the discussions on Item 9 became
\npoliticized. Some members want the commission to focus more on
\nthe problems of civil and political rights, or economic and
\ncultural rights.<\/p>\n
But the industrialized countries group said the agenda was
\nimportant for their countries so they were against efforts to
\neliminate the item.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the developing countries -- in Africa, Asia and
\nLatin America -- have urged Item 9 to be eliminated or changed.<\/p>",
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