Indonesia Ducks Uyghur Issue in United Nations
‘Islamic diplomacy’, development dollars get in the way
By: Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat and M. Habib Pashya
With its October 7 vote in the 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council against holding China accountable for its treatment of ethnic Uyghurs in its restive Xinjiang province, the Indonesian government appears to have put its preference for Beijing’s cash over the needs of its fellow Muslims.
The council is the UN’s top human rights body. The 19-17 vote, with 11 members abstaining, drew an angry response from Uyghur and other human rights advocates, who accused governments in the voting majority of pandering to China.
The campaign to hold China responsible began in May at the hands of the US, the UK and other western nations, with the council calling on Beijing to be held responsible for what the council in its own report called massive human rights violations in so-called re-education camps, which have allegedly imprisoned more than a million Muslims. In addition, the report described mass detention, political indoctrination and forced assimilation into Han Chinese society. However, Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, joined 18 other nations in voting against holding China responsible.
Indonesia’s foreign minister, in an interview with Voice of America news, argued that the Human Rights Council shouldn’t be used for political purposes, “it is not selective in choosing the issues discussed,” he said…