Indonesia wins seat on world human rights commission

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia has been elected for the second time to the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (UNHCHR) amid growing concerns at the increasing number of nations with poor human rights records on the 53-member commission.

Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday that the election proved the country's democratic credentials in the international community.

"We appreciate the election and we consider it reconfirmation of our democratic credentials and a valuable asset in our diplomacy," Marty told The Jakarta Post by phone from Denpasar, the capital of Bali.

The election took place during the UN Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC) session at UN headquarters in New York. The elected members will begin their three-year terms in January 2004.

Indonesia's permanent representative in Geneva, Switzerland, Nugroho Wisnumurti will fill the seat on the commission.

The country previously won membership for the 1999/2001 period.

Indonesia's military has been in the international spotlight in recent years for, among other things, gross human rights violations during its occupancy of East Timor. Only two of 15 officers put on trial for abuses around East Timor's 1999 vote for independence have been convicted so far, to the dismay of rights champions.

During a recent session of the commission, the East Timor issue was removed from its agenda following a meeting between Indonesian and East Timorese officials and commission members.

"In the past few weeks we phased out the East Timor issue and won membership on the commission. It is an achievement for our new democratic country," Marty said.

Joining Indonesia are India, Bhutan, Nepal, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The five countries elected on the first ballot, while Indonesia defeated Iran 31-23 for the sixth seat on a second ballot.

Before the vote, North Korea, Cambodia and Vietnam -- three other Asian countries with bad human rights records -- withdrew their candidacies.

Under UN rules, regional groups decide who fills seats on UN bodies.

Latin America only chose Cuba, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru for six open seats, so no vote was needed.

Russia was also reelected to another term with no opposition. Several African countries with poor human rights records also won seats.

The commission is chaired by Libya, another African country with what Human Rights Watch calls "a dreadful human rights record."

Britain, Italy and the Netherlands defeated Portugal in a contested race among Western nations.

Other countries elected uncontested were Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mauritania, South Africa and Hungary.

The United States walked out of the UN meeting to protest Cuba's reelection to the rights commission, calling it "an outrage" that undermined the group's credibility.

"Having Cuba serve again on the Human Rights Commission is like putting Al Capone in charge of bank security," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, as quoted by AP.

Cuba's uncontested election came just weeks after Fidel Castro's government sent 78 independent journalists, librarians and opposition leaders to prison for lengthy terms and executed three alleged hijackers for trying to get to the United States.

"It was an outrage for us because we view Cuba as the worst violator of human rights in this hemisphere," said Sichan Siv, the U.S. ambassador to ECOSOC, which elected 24 new members to the U.N. body charged with investigating rights abuses. "That's why we decided to walk out."

Cuba celebrated the victory Tuesday.

"They won't be able to force us out," said Jose Antonio Fernandez, the head the Cuban delegation said.