Makarim, human rights supremo

Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post, Geneva

"Sorry, we can't grant you an interview with Pak Makarim during the weekend -- he needs to spend time with his wife."

As I learned later, there were two very good reasons that Ambassador Makarim Wibisono, the head of Indonesia's mission to the United Nations in Geneva, is jealously protected by his staff.

Much of Makarim's time during the week since March 14 has been taken up chairing the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. In between meetings, he has to meet with delegates seeking his advice.

Then there are the all-night meetings he holds with the mission's staff to touch base on their problems that come to his office.

His wife is seriously ill, suffering from cancer. There were times Makarim was unable to accompany his wife to the hospital because of his presidency of the commission. So the weekend is exclusively reserved for her, as much as possible.

The additional duties that come with being president of the commission are taxing, and it will be like this for the coming year. For once this session ends on April 22, he will continue to serve as president until the next session.

When the interview eventually did take place, in Makarim's office at the Palais des Nations, the 58-year-old career diplomat looked worn out from sitting in meetings all day. He had just passed the halfway mark of the 61st session of the commission.

"The most difficult parts of the session are over," Makarim said, looking somewhat relieved and more relaxed. He was referring to the human rights items that traditionally have been the most sensitive and most heavily politicized by the delegates.

Makarim, who hails from Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, is not known for his views on human rights issues, at least not at home.

His career in the foreign service never led him to deal directly with questions related to human rights. The nearest brush he came to the issue, perhaps, was as editor of the Express News magazine from 1970 to 1972, just before he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

His election to the presidency of the Commission on Human Rights owes in large part to his diplomatic and negotiating skills, and his leadership.

Here, Makarim's resume speaks volumes: He has chaired various commissions in the United Nations, including as vice president of the Economic and Social Council, and in the Nonaligned Movement, including the disarmament group.

In the nearly four weeks he has led the session in Geneva, Makarim has already made his mark on the conference, known in the past as a venue for showdowns between countries with bones to pick. After all, they discuss human rights, which can be very emotional.

When he opened the session on March 14, the ambassador made a personal appeal to delegates to refrain from making defamatory statements, which he said would not serve the cause of promoting human rights. He repeats this at every opportunity.

His appeal has largely been observed as the session crossed the halfway mark last week. The commission still has addressed the tough questions, but in a far more cordial manner than in the past, and thus has been far more productive, according to people who have observed past sessions.

Some potential conflicts were defused in informal consultations that Makarim held with delegates in between formal meetings. In most cases, they approached him to use his good offices to deflate tensions.

If human rights had not been his strongest point in the past, Makarim today appears at ease talking about the issue and the challenges.

Still, he would not go so far as to suggest that Indonesia take the lead in the global human rights agenda. "At the very least, we are providing a vision on dealing with human rights matters," he says. "We have the chairmanship for one year. Maybe I can introduce some new ideas to keep the ball rolling."

To him, the chairmanship is also an opportunity to project a new image of Indonesia abroad (an image that has to be based on reality, he says), and not just of its human rights record, but also of its leadership skills in chairing a UN organization.

Makarim, who has a PhD from Ohio University, also believes that Indonesia's chairmanship of this prominent human rights agency is bound to have an impact on the domestic political agenda.

"The commitment and gesture to the protection of human rights should be there. Otherwise, people will perceive that Indonesia is not part of the human rights mainstream. And this would make our position awkward."

While acknowledging the need for Indonesia to resolve numerous pending human rights issues at home, he puts the emphasis on more human rights education on the national agenda.

Tests of his physical and mental endurance come from outside the conference halls. His mother-in-law died just before the session began.

And there was the story in the Swiss media that the new official residence the mission recently bought for the ambassador was purchased with money donated for victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami. Inevitably the news reached Indonesia. The claims were categorically denied, but still the episode took its toll on the mission's image.

When asked about where he got the energy to keep up with the grueling job of chairing the commission, Makarim replies: "My wife is the source of my stamina. She, and my family, of course," says the father of three grown children.

His wife continues to encourage him to give his best in leading the commission. "She will say to me, even in her suffering, show your leadership and show the world that Indonesia is not a nation of beggars."

When the session is over on April 22, there will hardly be time for Makarim to rest.

As president of the commission, there will be meetings of various subcommissions. As head of the Indonesian mission, he has to prepare for other major conferences, including the World Health Organization in May and the International Labor Organization in June, and possibly a visit by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for the ILO conference.

But he plans a quick break, if possible.

"When this is over, I might take my wife to Mecca for a couple of days for umroh (a minor pilgrimage), assuming I get a visa," he says.