Human Rights Commission

I am compelled to comment on the opinion of Yassin Tasrief in your report Poor record shuts RI out of UN rights commission (Monday, May 20, 1996). He blames the government of Indonesia, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for "nominating relatively unknown figures" for membership to the United Nations Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities. He views that the government "should have selected people with an international reputation whose commitment towards human rights cannot be questioned."

I could not agree more with Tasrief that Prof. Mochtar Kusuma- Atmadja and Dr. Emil Salim are prominent figures with international reputations. What he probably is not aware of is that the election process in an international body like UN Commission involves many factors that could influence the final outcome.

He questions the integrity of the Indonesian candidates, Prof. Dr. Charles Himawan and Prof. Dr. H. Muladi. Does he really know them well? I doubt it. He otherwise would not have questioned their credentials. I believe both have strong credentials for the position and their commitment to human rights is beyond doubt. As members of the National Human Rights Commission, they are highly respected both nationally and internationally. Many governments have promised to support the Indonesian candidates because of their credentials. As I mentioned earlier, however, other considerations could prevail in the last stage of the election process.

A poor atmosphere might have discouraged support for the Indonesian candidates during the election. It seems the atmosphere was deliberately soured. The day before the election, many European television stations aired an incident occurring in Jakarta. This is a clear sign that certain parties do not want Indonesia to be represented in the subcommission. I do not agree that Indonesia's human rights record obstructs it from participating in the UN Human Rights Commission. Indonesia has been outstanding in its effort to be re-elected for the third consecutive time as a member of the Commission for 1997 to 1999 at the election held during the Economic and Social Council in New York early this May.

Unlike other regional groups in this election, the Asian Group had five candidates (Japan, Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia) for only two seats. No single country wanted to give up its candidacy, consequently, the competition was tight.

I believe the Indonesian government did its utmost to nominate the best candidates and gain as much support as possible. It is unwise, therefore, to put the blame on anybody.

WESAKA PUJA

Jakarta