While showing slow and weak progress, Southeast Asia has demonstrated a unique human rights institutionalization process. More Southeast Asian countries have adopted international human rights standards than before and even endorsed the establishment of a regional human rights body within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) mechanism.

This article analyses Indonesia’s conduct of human rights diplomacy post-Suharto era, starting from the presidency of B.J. Habibie to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The study aims to identify how Indonesia’s foreign policy instruments, specifically human rights diplomacy, have been utilized on the international political stage to achieve Indonesia’s national interests during that period.

With the pervasive violations of human rights, including mass atrocities, which happened during the authoritarian New Order administration, the literature on human rights in Indonesia has often been highly critical of the regimes’ human rights record. Indonesia’s regime change in 1998 brought in a more optimistic outlook; successive regimes have shown a stronger commitment to respecting human rights. However, the government still faces challenges in protecting such rights, and in acknowledgement and resolving past gross human rights violations.