TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' human rights and humanitarian director Achsanul Habib said that Indonesia is currently electing to be a United Nations’ human rights council member for the period of 2020-2022.

He explained that Indonesia could potentially take two benefits out of this, firstly is becoming the firsthand entity to attract Indonesians to be involved in UN training and discussions related to the subject. The government can also showcase Indonesia’s enforcement of human rights such as the empowerment of people with disabilities in the business sector.

Read: UN to Scrutinize Human Rights in Indonesia

“With this position, we can also nominate Indonesians to fill critical positions in the United Nations’ human rights council,” said Habib on Thursday, February 21.

The second benefit is the government could elevate the Ministry’s human rights capacity by spreading crucial human rights principles across the country’s state apparatus.

Habib asserts if Indonesia does not nominate itself, the slot may be filled by certain groups that have contrasting interests to Indonesia or could possibly produce decisions that might harm Indonesia human rights wise.

He says that the country can also be a balancer to progressively improve human rights and represent the interests of other countries that are yet represented, such as small, developed, or underdeveloped countries that lack the funds to position a representative in the UN human rights council.

SUCI SEKARWATI