Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The government has expressed early signals of its refusal to comply with all of the United Nations Human Rights Council's (UNHRC) recommendations on issues like the death penalty, blasphemy and sexual orientation.
The UNHRC submitted 75 recommendations to Indonesia in response to a review on the country's human rights situation during the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) meeting earlier this month.
Indonesian Permanent Representative to the UN Hasan Kleib said Indonesia had responded to the majority of the recommendations, most of which called for more policies to promote the rights of women and children. The government needed more time to consider all of the 75 recommendations. "We need to discuss them with stakeholders," Hasan said on Thursday.
He said the government should be careful in responding to harshly worded recommendations conveyed to Indonesia by several member states. Some countries made firm suggestions, such as asking Indonesia to abolish the death penalty or to adopt the International Criminal Court (ICC) convention.The Law and Human Rights Ministry's director of human rights and justice, Mualimin Abdi, said the government would include the UPR recommendations that the government agreed with in an amendment of the Criminal Code (KUHP) that was being deliberated at the House or Representatives.
The government is scheduled to present the final decision during a meeting at the UNHRC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in September this year. (ebf)