Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, United Nations
The United Nations special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, will visit Indonesia from Nov. 10 to 25 at the invitation of the government.
In order to gather first-hand information, Nowak will meet with ministers and officials, members of the judiciary, the National Human Rights Commission, and representatives of NGOs and international organizations. He will also visit detention facilities, according to a press release sent by Nowak's office in Geneva.
Nowak will submit a report, including his conclusions and recommendations, to the Human Rights Council.
Nowak was appointed special rapporteur in December 2004 by the UN Commission on Human Rights. He previously worked as member of the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, the UN expert on missing persons in the former Yugoslavia, and the UN expert on legal questions on enforced disappearances.
Nowak will be the third UN rights representatives to visit Indonesia this year.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour made a five-day visit in July. The visit was aimed at encouraging the government's efforts to promote and protect human rights at the national, regional and international levels.
Arbour started her visit by opening the 14th annual workshop on regional cooperation framework for the promotion and protection of human rights on July 10 in Bali.
The commissioner praised Indonesia's progress in applying human rights principles in recent years, and said the country should play a leading role in the establishment of human rights mechanisms in the region.
However, during a meeting with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, Arbour also raised the need for the international community to enhance efforts to ensure the abolition of capital punishment, which is still used in the Indonesian legal system.
Early in June, Hina Jilani, the UN secretary-general's special representative on human rights defenders traveled to Indonesia.
During her visit, Jilani met with Indonesian human rights activists and officials to hear reports on the country's progress in improving its human rights protections. Jilani also raised concerns about the unsolved murder of prominent rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib.
Jilani is expected to report the results of her visit at a 2008 UN Human Rights Council meeting.
She said that Indonesia had made improvements in human rights as indicated by the establishment of democratic institutions.
