REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will protect Indonesian nationals by drafting a bill on the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICCPED), as stated by Marty Natalegawa, Foreign Minister.
"The ratification of ICCPED should be carried out through a law because the convention is related to human rights," clarified the foreign minister at the House of Representatives building, here on Wednesday.
The minister explained that the ratification of the international convention constituted a manifestation of the state responsibility to protect Indonesian citizens from the threat of enforced disappearance.
"This is a way of implementation of the Constitution for the upholding the rights of all citizens," he added.
Marty said the ratification of the convention would benefit Indonesia immensely. It would be a concrete implementation of Law No. 39/1999 on Human Rights, particularly Article 33, point 2, which provides guarantee to all people from the threat of enforced disappearance.
"Indonesia's past experience shows the weaknesses of its legal framework that caused the emergence of significant social, political and legal problems," stated the minister.
The International Convention for the ICCPED is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations and intended to prevent forced disappearance as defined in international law as crimes against humanity.
Marty explained that the text was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 2006, and opened for signatures on February 6, 2007.
It entered into force on December 23, 2010. As of September 2013, 93 states have signed the convention and 40 have ratified it.
He said that the adoption of the convention was to provide a legal framework at the global level for the prevention of enforced disappearance that might take place in the future.
"Indonesia has been taking active part in the convention since 2003 until 2005. Indonesia is one of the 103 countries that served as co-sponsors at the time of adoption of the convention by UN General Assembly," noted the Indonesian foreign minister.
He said that Indonesia signed the convention at the United Nations' Headquarters in New York on September 27, 2010. Indonesia's decision to sign the convention showed not only its support for the substance of the convention but also for its respect to the universal values of human rights.
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