Jakarta – The Indonesian government on Wednesday signed a letter of intent with the International Labor Organization (ILO) pledging to ratify three more human rights conventions.

The letter was signed at the presidential palace here by Labor Minister Fahmy Idris and ILO Jakarta office director Iftikar Ahmed, with President B.J. Habibie as witness, the ILO said in a statement.

The signing follows Habibie's move in June to sign the ILO convention on the Freedom of Assocation and the right to organize, as part of reforms adopted after the fall of former president Suharto,.

The three new conventions would oblige Indonesia to abolish forced labor, ban employment of underage workers and prevent discrimination in the workplace.

If the three are ratified by parliament, Indonesia would become the first country in East Asia to have adopted all seven of the ILO's core conventions, the statement said.