Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) urged the government to ratify the International Convention for the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which come into full force globally Thursday.

"It's very important for the government to ratify the convention as soon as possible, in regards to our long history of human rights violations and kidnappings," Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said Wednesday.

He cited the 1965 massacre of suspected members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), the mysterious 1983 shooters, the 1984 Tanjung Priok shootings and the 1998 activists abductions.

To date, the convention has been ratified by 21 countries and signed by 88 since the United Nations (UN) opened it for signing in February 2007. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa signed the convention on Sept. 27.

"We appreciate the signing but ratifying is far more important. The convention's ratification will prevent enforced disappearances happening again in the future. It will also be a symbol of admittance that enforced disappearance is a very serious crime against humanity," Haris said.