Sixty-first session Agenda item 105 (e) Elections to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other elections: election of fourteen members of the Human Rights Council Note verbale dated 12 April 2007 from the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations presents its compliments to the President of the General Assembly, and with reference to the upcoming elections of members of the Human Rights Council, to be held on 17 May 2007, has the honour to attach a document of Indonesia’s voluntary pledges and commitments (see annex). The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia has further the honour to request that the present note be circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 105 (e). Annex to the note verbale from the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly Voluntary pledges and commitments New York, 8 March 2007 The Government and people of Indonesia firmly believe that the promotion and protection of human rights are essential to building a peaceful, secure and equitably prosperous world. This vigorous adherence to human rights values, enshrined in Indonesia’s state ideology, the Pancasila, and in the 1945 Constitution, will always be the underlying principle of Indonesia’s national policy. Hence, this principle is central to the mission and vision of the Indonesian Government and people. This is clearly reflected in the National Development Plan, of which Indonesia’s foreign policy forms an integral part. In this spirit, the Government of the Republic of Indonesia has decided to present its candidature for re-election to the membership of the Human Rights Council for the period 2007-2010. The election of Indonesia to a seat in the Human Rights Council for the 2006 period and to a non-permanent seat in the Security Council for the 2007-2008 period with robust support from the United Nations members clearly reflects sustained trust and confidence in Indonesia’s commitment to the principles and ideals enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. This includes the promotion and protection of human rights at both the national and international levels. As the third-largest democracy in the world and with the world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia is firmly committed to the principle of religious freedom and tolerance and has been actively advocating and promoting dialogue as the most effective means of enabling different communities to understand and respect one another. Where there is genuine dialogue, communities can live together in harmony and work together to address the challenges confronting them. Indonesia has been actively promoting various bilateral and multilateral interfaith dialogues in order to promote religious harmony, tolerance, respect and solidarity among different faiths and cultures at the regional, international and global levels. With regard to norm-setting and legislation on human rights and their institutionalization, Indonesia has ratified and acceded to a number of international human rights instruments including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and all the core conventions of the International Labour Organization. It has also enacted several national laws on human rights, one of which created the Human Rights Court while another ensures the independence of the National Human Rights Commission. Indonesia is also proud of its vibrant and active human rights civil society organizations and of its free and dynamic press as important pillars of democracy. In this respect, Indonesia attaches the greatest importance to the critical role of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations. In this endeavour, the Government of Indonesia has been working in close partnership with them. Indonesia has also established independent national commissions for human rights (komnas ham), the rights of women (komnas perempuan) and child protection (komnas anak). To strengthen the promotion and ensure the protection of human rights, the Government of Indonesia has integrated these rights into its national education curriculum as well as establishing human rights centres in universities throughout the country as part of the implementation of its National Plan of Action on Human Rights. Indonesia has been establishing committees to implement its Human Rights Plan of Action in all 33 provinces and 329 municipalities to ensure that all local regulations do not contravene human rights values and principles. For this reason, until the end of 2006 as many as 800 local regulations were annulled. At the regional level, Indonesia has consistently played an active role in the promotion of human rights through the institution-building process of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In that context, it has introduced various regional initiatives on human rights, such as the establishment of the Working Group on ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms, and the incorporation of human rights cooperation into the ASEAN Security Community Plan of Action in 2004. At the international level, Indonesia has engaged actively and constructively in the human rights deliberations in both the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly by virtue of the various recommendations made to those institutions. In the context of the development of international human rights instruments, Indonesia has strongly supported the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In an effort to fulfil one of its previous pledges and commitments, in midDecember 2006 the Government of Indonesia invited the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge A. Bustamante, to visit Indonesia. On that occasion, Mr. Bustamante met with members of the Cabinet and various high officials and leaders of national human rights institutions and visited several migrant transit areas in Batam and West Kalimantan. Indonesia is also looking forward to the visits, in 2007, of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders and of the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture. As part of its efforts to promote and strengthen cooperation and partnerships in the field of human rights, Indonesia has held bilateral as well as plurilateral dialogues and cooperation on human rights with a number of countries. In this respect, Indonesia will continue to strengthen and expand the opportunities for such endeavours with more countries in this field. If re-elected, Indonesia will continue its active and constructive engagement in the promotion of universal respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms on the basis of the principles of universality, indivisibility and non-selectivity, impartiality, interdependence and interrelationship. To this end, Indonesia reiterates its human rights pledges and commitments, involving the following: At the international level: • Indonesia will continue its programme of accession to or ratification of international human rights instruments in accordance with the stipulations of the second National Plan of Action on Human Rights 2004-2009. • Indonesia will continue to work and fully cooperate with relevant treaty monitoring bodies, through the timely submission of its national reports and the implementation of their respective recommendations thereon. • Indonesia will also carry on and enhance its endeavours to ensure that all human rights: civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, but also the right to development, are given equal emphasis in the work of the Human Rights Council. • Indonesia will continue to strengthen its constructive engagement and cooperation with other members of the Human Rights Council in the final deliberations and conclusions of its institution-building mechanisms, including the finalization of the modalities of the universal periodic review mechanism. • Indonesia will play a more active role in the promotion of dialogue on human rights and interfaith cooperation at the regional, interregional, and multinational levels. • In the context of the promotion of religious tolerance, Indonesia is of the view that the Council’s deliberations on human rights issues should take into account, based on respect for and freedom of religion and belief, the different cultural and religious values of all States and of different communities. • Indonesia will continue to lend its support to the work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. • Indonesia will continue its efforts to strengthen the role of civil society in the promotion and protection of human rights at the regional and international levels. At the national level: • Indonesia will continue to implement its second National Plan of Action on Human Rights 2004-2009 consisting of 146 strategies on human rights and entailing: (a) the ratification of international instruments; (b) the harmonization of domestic laws with international norms; (c) education and dissemination; (d) the application of norms and standards; (e) strengthening the institutional framework; and (f) monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on the national human rights situation. • Indonesia will also continue to strengthen its close engagement and partnership with civil society in the promotion and protection of human rights, among others, by supporting the existing national human rights institutions, that is the National Commission on Human Rights, the Commission on Child Protection and the National Commission on Women. By the same token, it will pursue the empowerment of the newly established local human rights commissions at the provincial and district levels. • Indonesia will also maintain its active support for the national, regional and international processes on promoting and protecting women’s rights and the rights of the child, particularly in the efforts to eliminate discrimination and violence against women, as well as its fight against human trafficking at the national, regional and international levels. • Indonesia also remains committed to the further strengthening of good governance and the rule of law, by enhancing the effectiveness of its legal institutions such as the Constitutional Court, the National Law Commission, the Judicial Commission, the Prosecution Commission, the Police Commission, the Ombudsman Commission and the Anti-corrupt Practices Commission. • Indonesia will maintain its efforts in the strengthening of its engagement and partnership with national civil society in the promotion and protection of human rights. Given the above considerations, Indonesia sincerely believes that its continued membership on the Human Rights Council will contribute to ensuring that the Council becomes a credible and efficient institution that can galvanize international cooperation in the promotion and protection of human rights.   sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/61/855 sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/61/855 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 07-30742 \* MERGEFORMAT 2 \* MERGEFORMAT 5 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 07-30742 United Nations A/61/855 General Assembly Distr.: General 13 April 2007 Original: English jobn \* MERGEFORMAT 07-30742 (E) 170407 Barcode \* MERGEFORMAT *0730742*