Indonesia's human rights diplomacy

Budiono Kusumohamidjojo Jakarta

On Jan. 17, Makarim Wibisono, one of Indonesia's outstanding career diplomats, was elected chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) for 2005. The strategic importance of the UNCHR nowadays is second only to the Security Council. It is in within the framework of this challenging development that Puja Wesaka, director for human rights at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, convened a well-attended seminar on its strategic meaning on Feb. 7.

People used to believe that a country's foreign policy reflects its domestic political constellation and that consequently diplomats represent their countries' political interests. However, Makarim's election to the prestigious office by acclamation reflects the international recognition of his personal gifts and reputation and does not necessarily indicate an acknowledgment of Indonesia's accomplishments in the human rights field. As a result, Makarim's chairmanship of the UNCHR can be seen as an honor for him on the one hand, but also as a tremendous challenge on the other hand.

He will be expected to bring together and preside over a forum of about 3,000 participants comprising different political actors and stakeholders and make them talk to each other and cooperate despite their often conflicting opinions and interests. The chairman of the UNCHR is bound to address and deal with various cases of human rights violations from all over the world. His biggest challenge will stem from the tacit requirement that he act impartially but also effectively in bringing about strategic decisions geared toward improving the global constellation as regards respect of human rights.

The irony is that Indonesia's unimpressive record on human rights is unlikely to provide Makarim with the empirical and substantive support he needs. He will also have to cope with challenges for which he should not be made accountable personally. It is precisely because he is an Indonesian diplomat chairing the UNCHR that he may have to respond to people asking about Aceh, Papua, Poso and probably also the Munir case.

Indonesia's turn to chair the UNCHR in 2005 could also easily turn out to be an opportunity for international pressure to be applied against us to improve our own performance as regards respect for and protection of the human rights of our own people. The struggle for independence and the 1945 Constitution were based on respect for human rights! It is simply a rule of thumb that one should put things at home in order first before trying to do so around the neighborhood.

Notwithstanding the delicate domestic situation, it would be premature and unfair to make negative prognostications regarding the effectiveness of Makarim's leadership of the UNCHR in 2005. However, it is indubitably the case that he is aware of the that he will most likely have to face international pressure addressed to the Indonesian government to seriously implement programs to improve the human rights situation in our country.

On the positive side, Makarim's appointment as UNCHR chairman may indeed lead to improvements in the sense that Indonesia may feel the need for change. In other words, the benefits of Indonesia chairing the UNCHR in 2005 may mostly accrue to Indonesia itself. But again, this is a sort of predictive reasoning. The UNCHR sessions and proceedings in 2005 are expected to produce more than 100 resolutions. We should remember, however, that resolutions have a rather poor reputation in the history of the UN. Nevertheless, Ambassador Wirjono Sastrohandoyo maintains that resolutions produce a lot of publicity and that publicity can result in wide-ranging social pressure. Sustained pressure of this nature can push societies towards better practices in matters related to human rights and also in other walks of life. The same possibility may apply in the case of Indonesia as well.

If best practices in respect for and protection of human rights become the reality on a daily basis, a new set of values will come into being. And living values form the solid foundation for binding laws. Wirjono noted that where there is widespread adherence to the rule of law, there is also evidence of better respect for and protection of human rights. But is there, indeed, a correlation between this process and democracy? There is no doubt that Indonesia's peaceful progress towards democratization has elicited praise from around the world.

In reality, however, there is no guarantee that democracy will result in best practices regarding human rights as amply demonstrated in Indonesia during the seven years following the downfall of the New Order regime in 1998. Former Attorney General Marzuki Darusman argued that the New Order regime provided the international public from time to time with a "democratic face of authoritarianism" in order to cope with sporadic human rights violations. Not very long ago, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a hard time trying to rationalize, if not actually to defend, such anachronisms.

There is no doubt that the Indonesian foreign ministry has consistently played a ground breaking role that led to the election of Makarim to chair the UNCHR in 2005. However, we regret to note that the Indonesian domestic situation regarding human rights does not reflect the advances made by the foreign ministry.

It would be tragic if Indonesia's democratization process over the coming years failed to reflect the good work done by its own foreign ministry. And the world would deeply regret it if Indonesia's peaceful endeavors towards democracy only belied its substantive authoritarianism.

It would be a pity and a lost opportunity for the country to regain the international respect that it once enjoyed, ironically, during the era of an "authoritarian regime smiling a democratic face". It is in this respect that Indonesia's formal and informal leaders must avail of Makarim's chairmanship of the UNCHR in 2005 so as to ensure the adoption of best practices in matters regarding human rights.

What if they fail to comply with these requirements, even though they are in the interests of our own people? Then we must remember that no country is an island, particularly in this era of globalization, which rules that either you get on board or you get left behind and become isolated.

If we do not foreign powers to enforce change in the name of globalization, then it is essential that we induce reasonable change from within. We wish you good luck, Makarim Wibisono!

The writer is a board member of the Indonesian Working Group on Human Rights Mechanisms.