Jakarta Onews,-- Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday that Indonesia’s decision to abstain for the UN General Assembly’s approval of the global arms trade treaty came from its objections to the treaty’s draft, which required exporters to assess the human rights records of their potential buyers.

"Indonesia’s stance on this matter is clear. We support the idea on the need of a treaty to manage or regulate the international trade of weapons,” said Marty at the State Palace.

"But the problem is, the draft treaty that was brought to the UN General Assembly for voting yesterday contained a concept of conditionality in which arms exporters should assess the human rights conditions in the buyer countries,” he added.

However, Marty denied that Indonesia was worried about the international perception of the country’s human rights record and that this could hamper its arms procurement with its trading partners.

"Our concern was that the draft treaty would allow exporter states to unilaterally assess whether a country upholds human rights principles and they would use it to determine the country’s eligibility to buy weapons. It is very one-sided,” said the Minister.

According to Marty, the authority to make such an assessment would only belong to "a neutral group which contains eminent persons with relevant expertise for the assessment”.

Marty said Indonesia hoped that the treaty could accommodate the establishment of such a neutral group.

The resolution, which regulates the international trade in conventional arms, received 154 votes in favor. Three member states – Iran, North Korea, and Syria – voted against the decision. Indonesia joined 22 other countries that abstained. (ebf)

Orginal News: The Jakarta Post