Poor record shuts RI out of UN rights commission

SEMARANG (JP): Indonesia's poor human rights record is one of the main reasons why its candidates were not elected to the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities, a candidate said.

Human rights campaigner Muladi told The Jakarta Post here on Friday the country's poor human rights protection image was an obstacle to efforts to get an Indonesian into the committee.

Last year, Jakarta nominated rights campaigner Charles Himawan to sit on the UN sub-commission with Muladi as his alternate.

During a meeting in Geneva earlier this month, Indonesian candidates lost out to nominees from Japan and South Korea for one of the 16 seats.

Muladi, who is rector of Diponegoro University, said it is important for the country to dispel the negative perception by working to improve human rights across the country.

Apart from its notoriety, Jakarta's efforts were further obstructed by the international campaign against Indonesia being waged by East Timorese separatist leaders, such as Ramos Horta, Muladi said.

Horta has often accused the Indonesian military of torture in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor.

Indonesia's fate was sealed by the fact that even Asian states differed in their support, Muladi added.

Despite intensive lobbying by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs's Director General of Political Affairs Izhar Ibrahim and Indonesia's permanent Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Agus Tarmizi, only 20 of the expected 38 supporting votes came in.

The fact that India also submitted candidates to the sub- committee helped split up the votes for the Asian representative.

Another factor which may have come into play is that many perceive Indonesia as a developing country with a relatively weak economy, Muladi said.

He also said that the dominant role of the United States in such proceedings was another negative factor in the election process.

"The U.S. was very inflexible towards Indonesia," charged Muladi, who is a member of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission and has also sat on the UN Committee on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

Despite missing a spot on the sub-commission this time, Muladi remained optimistic at the prospect of Indonesians sitting on the sub-commission in the future.

Separately, Yassin Tasrief, an international relations lecturer at Diponegoro University, seconded Muladi's opinion about Indonesia's poor image in the human rights field being a major obstacle.

He blamed the government for nominating relatively unknown figures for the position.

"The government, in this case the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, should have selected people with an international reputation whose commitment towards human rights can't be questioned," he said.

Yassin pointed out former foreign minister Mochtar Kusuma- Atmadja and former minister of environment Emil Salim as two respected possibilities, who have international reputations. (har/mds)