The Foreign Ministry says the human rights of Indonesians will be protected with the issuance of a law on the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
However, Wednesday’s work meeting between the government and the House of Representative’s foreign affairs commission decided to delay the ratification of the convention. Several House factions said some parts of the draft law needed to be further discussed, although in general, they agreed to the ratification.
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said final ratification of the convention would be a manifestation of Indonesia’s commitment to protecting the human rights of its people as mandated by the Constitution.
“The decision to ratify the convention is a manifestation of the country’s responsibility to guarantee that all people in the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia are free from enforced disappearance,” he said on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.
According to the minister, ratifying the convention will give concrete meaning to the implementation of Law No. 39/1999 on human rights, particularly Article 33 (2), which guarantees freedom from all forms of enforced disappearance.
“Indonesia’s past experience has shown weaknesses in the country’s legal framework that trigger legal, social and political problems that are not trivial,” said Marty.
The Convention on Enforced Disappearance was adopted at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting on Dec.20, 2006.
“Indonesia actively participated in the arrangement of the convention in 2003 to 2005. Indonesia was one of the 105 countries that were co-sponsors of the adoption of the convention,” said Marty. On Sept.27, 2010, Indonesia signed the convention at UN headquarters in New York, the US.