Camelia Pasandaran – Senior government officials on Wednesday defended the country's human rights record against recent criticism about it gaining a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Speaking at a meeting on the Human Rights Action Plan for 2011-14, Vice President Boediono pointed out that 184 out of 191 countries voted on Friday for Indonesia to serve a three-year term. Indonesia has been granted a seat three times since the 47-nation body was founded in 2006.

"We should be proud that Indonesia is currently a model where human rights conditions are good," Boediono said. Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar also lauded the country's record. "Indonesia, compared to [others], is respected as a country where human rights are upheld."

Several local rights groups have questioned the country's eligibility for a seat on the council because of unresolved cases of rights violations during the fall of Suharto in 1998 and the ongoing surge in religious violence.

A recent report by the US government listed Indonesia as a having made significant strides in rights, but it also noted that the country was facing many problems, including political corruption, limits on freedom of expression, violence against minority groups and human trafficking.

The UN's high commissioner for human rights, Navanethem Pillay, also voiced concerns in a recent letter citing reports of violence against religious minorities, including the Ahmadiyah sect, Christian groups and even Buddhists. She has proposed a special rapporteur on human rights visit the country this year to investigate the reports.

But Patrialis said those reports did not properly reflect the country's rights record and dismissed them as "temporary" problems. "If it is only one or two cases, it is not a national problem," he said, adding that the authorities were working to resolve the conflicts.

However, the minister said the UN rapporteur would be welcome to visit the country any time.

Boediono said the country should remain realistic about the problems it faced. "The action plan should not be too ambitious, but concrete and able to be done within three or four years," he said.

China, Saudi Arabia and Angola also have seats. Libya was recently suspended from the body.