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Activists have urged the government to improve the country’s questionable rights record in the wake of its selection for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“We welcome the result, but we also see this as momentum or a trigger to now follow up on a number of unresolved human rights cases,” Ifdhal Kasim, chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.

Ifdhal cited cases such as the May 1998 tragedy in which more than 1,000 people were killed in the chaos leading up to the resignation of President Suharto.

Despite findings from Komnas HAM that serious human rights violations had occurred, the government has failed to take meaningful action to bring those responsible to justice.

Indonesia on Friday was among 15 countries elected for three-year terms on the Human Rights Council. This is the country’s third term since the council was established in 2006.

The election took place during the 65th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Saturday that the country’s selection reaffirmed it was making progress in ensuring human rights and democratization.

“This is a reflection of the international community’s appreciation of Indonesia’s role and leadership in spearheading human rights issues in regional and global forums,” Marty said in a statement.

Indonesia received the highest number of votes compared to any other Asian nation nominated for the four seats open to the region this year, garnering support from 184 of the 191 countries with voting rights.

“This shows Indonesia’s consistency in including human rights issues as part of its agenda and priorities for its foreign policy over the past decade,” the foreign minister added.

H aris Azhar, national executive director of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), questioned just how big an accomplishment the election was for Indonesia.

“It is quite surprising when Indonesia is elected for the third time,” he said. “It might be that Indonesia was voted for by undemocratic countries, though Indonesia does fare better compared to other Asean or Arabic countries.

“There are different countries and different interests. It’s possible that the votes were made based not on objective considerations but political ones, which is why the UN, although it is a powerful body, is not really the best mechanism for advocating for human rights.”

Haris said the council seat would put added pressure on Indonesia to stand up for human rights, particularly in regional neighbor Burma.

“Furthermore, can Indonesia promote constructive solutions to problems such as Ahmadiyah? Can Indonesia be a model of democratization for countries such as China?” he said.

He said Amnesty International’s 2011 annual report showed the country needed to address a litany of issues such as maternal deaths, persecution of minorities and abuse of political prisoners.