Intervention by the Indonesian Delegation
at Working Group on UPR
Geneva, 20 November 2006


Mr. Facilitator,

	To begin, my delegation would like to express its appreciation for the document submitted by the facilitator, which has been useful in providing us with an outline of the focus of discussion. 

	With regard to the Terms of Reference (TOR) and the basis for review, our delegation is of the view that the legal basis for the UPR should be the UN Charter, Universal Declaration for Human Rights, Vienna Declaration and Program for Action (VDPA), international covenants on human rights to which the countries concerned are parties, national laws and national constitutions, as well as pledges and commitments they have made.

	In this regard, the UPR should be free from politicization, it must similarly be transparent and non-selective. As indicated in Resolution 60/251, the UPR should also not duplicate the work of the treaty bodies.

	We also agree with the suggestion that international customary law should not be included since it may not fully reflect the social, cultural and religious specificities background of a country.

Thank you.
Intervention by the Indonesian Delegation
at Working Group on UPR
Geneva, 20 November 2006


Mr. Facilitator,

	With regard to principles and objective, our delegation is of the view that the UPR,  in essence,  should be a mechanism that promotes and assists countries to implement their human rights obligations.  In this regard, the UPR should complement the work of the treaty bodies and not focus on specific human rights but rather adopt a general approach to the member states’ obligation in the field of human rights and give consideration to the capacity building needs of the state concerned. 

	Indonesia is one the country that support the idea that UPR is a state driven exercise and it should be a light exercise in order not to duplicate the work of treaty bodies. Hence, our delegation support the view that in order to achieve that objective could be carried out through a standardized questionnaire. In this regard we support the view that through standardized questionnaire we can still have opportunity to pose questions on specific matters during the interactive dialogue in the UPR.

	With regard to the participation of NGO in the UPR, Indonesia is of the view that civil society should be involved in providing information to the Council regarding a particular country under review at the preparatory stage.  In this vein, only local NGOs should be called upon to provide information when the country is under review since they have more in depth and clear perspective on the real situation in that particular country. 

Thank you.
Intervention by the Indonesian Delegation
at WG on Universal Periodic Review
Geneva, 20 November 2006


 Mr. Facilitator, 

	Our delegation would like to comments on the following points of your paper.

Principle and objective

	With regard to principles and objective, our delegation is of the view that the UPR in essence should be a mechanism that promotes and assists countries to implement their human rights obligations. In this regard, the UPR should complement the work of treaty bodies and not focus on specific human rights but rather adopt a general approach to the member states’ obligation s in the field of human rights and give consideration to the capacity building needs of the state concerned. 

	To achieve that objective and ensure the effectiveness of the UPR, the UPR shall be carried out in a constructive manner and based on reliable and objective information in order to have a useful role in identifying the obstacles or challenges encountered by countries, while also allowing for the possibility to capitalize on their strengths and weaknesses.

Periodicity and order of review

	 On periodicity and order of review, our delegation view on this regard is in line with Pakistan statement made on behalf of the OIC.  In this regard our view is in line with the alternative one on the cycle of review that is five years with two hours of interactive dialogue.

Thank you