Hassan Wirajuda


Nur Hassan Wirajuda is an Indonesian politician who was the foreign minister of Indonesia from 2001 to 2009. He served during the presidencies of Megawati Sukarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Education

Wirajuda earned a Doctor of Juridical Science in International Law from the University of Virginia School of Law, a Master of Law from Harvard University School of Law, and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
In 1971, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Indonesia and in 1976, he spent a year at Oxford University in the United Kingdom earning a Certificate in Diplomacy.

Diplomatic career

A lawyer by training and a diplomat by choice, Wirajuda has held several important posts including Director-General of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Egypt, and Director of International Organizations of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
On February 6, 2009, Wirajuda criticized Burma for their abuse of Rohingya people, after nearly 400 Rohingya refugees were rescued off the coast of Sumatra in the first month of 2009.
In 2007 he chaired the first Indonesia-UK forum alongside British foreign minister Margaret Beckett.
On October 22, 2009, Marty Natalegawa was appointed foreign minister.
During his diplomatic career, Wirajuda also assisted the establishment of the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights.