Indonesia's appointment to UN rights body welcomed

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Several human rights campaigners welcomed on Tuesday the appointment of Indonesia's Makarim Wibisono as a new chairman of the UN Human Rights Commission and asked the government to soon take action to improve the country's human rights record.

Coordinator for Indonesia's NGO Coalition for International Human Rights Advocacy Rafendi Djamin said that Makarim's appointment could be used as good momentum for Indonesia in advancing human rights.

"Being appointed to chair such a top position, the government needs to utilize this momentum to improve its human rights image on the international level," Rafendi told participants of a seminar on human rights issues.

He said that the new chairman had to explain Indonesia's position on several international issues.

At home, said Rafendi, the government had to show its commitment to resolving the "residual problems" on a number of alleged human rights violations, such as the Tanjung Priok affair and East Timor massacre and the death of prominent rights campaigner Munir.

Makarim, the Indonesian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, was appointed on Monday as chairman of the UN Rights Commission. He succeeds Ambassador Mike Smith of Australia.

The job, which lasts for one year, traditionally rotates among ambassadors of the five geographical groupings in the United Nations.

Makarim had been proposed by the Asian group of UN members and was appointed by consensus among the 53 commission member nations, ranging from Argentina to Zimbabwe. Other current members include Brazil, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan and the United States.

This year the annual session of the commission - the top UN human rights watchdog - will open on March 14.

Loubna Freih, spokeswoman for the advocacy group Human Rights Watch was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that she hoped Makarim would "be as fair a chairman as possible."

Freih added that Indonesia's own record also need to be scrutinized.

Campaigners have long cited rights abuses by Indonesia's military in regions across the country, including the war against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh. They also point to abuses by the military in West Papua and in East Timor.

Indonesian authorities have rejected claims of human rights violations, saying that the security forces were obliged to take action against separatists to protect the country's territorial integrity.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy Ifdhal Kasim expressed concern over the efforts of several member countries to terminate the monitoring function of the UN Human Rights Commission.

"One critical task for Pak Makarim is to reactivate the monitoring team of the Commission as many member countries want to terminate it," he said.