Security forces were deployed in greater numbers across Jakarta as leaders from several Asian and African countries arrived in the capital city on Monday, with leaders from major states, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, expected to touch down Tuesday.

Xi and Abe, both of whom will take part in the 60th Asian African Conference Commemoration (AACC) held in Jakarta and Bandung, Central Java through Friday, are poised to become the stars of the summit.

Among the state leaders reported to have arrived at Jakarta'€™s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday were included Kim Yong-nam, the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People'€™s Assembly of North Korea, who is often dubbed the country'€™s '€œceremonial president'€.

Other leaders whose arrivals are heavily anticipated include Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

Indonesia is among a small number of countries with an embassy in Pyongyang.

Pyongyang'€™s stance on a number of issues, particularly its nuclear-weapons program, has made the country a global pariah. Bashir, meanwhile, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for atrocities committed in West Africa.

Indonesia is not a party to the ICC, but several officials have voiced a desire to ratify it.

Human rights groups have voiced concerns over Bashir'€™s presence at the commemoration, with some slamming the government for inviting him in the first place.

'€œWe condemn the Indonesian government, which ignored the ICC'€™s decision to arrest Bashir. We regret the government'€™s insistence on inviting him and ignoring the voices of human-rights supporters across the world,'€ the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said in a statement on Monday.

Bashir departed Sudan for Indonesia on Monday in his first trip outside Africa or the Middle East in nearly four years, Reuters reported.

 '€œ[Asian and African] ministers call for cooperation on several strategic issues, such as human rights, climate change and sustainable development,'€ Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said.

Bashir has cut back on travel outside the region since the ICC issued an arrest warrant in 2009 accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Darfur.

In 2010, the ICC issued a second warrant on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

'€œThe UN says the unrest in Darfur has killed 300,000 people and displaced some 2 million, while the government puts the death toll at around 10,000,'€ Yuyun Wahyuningrum, a senior advisor on ASEAN and human rights for the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), said.

'€œCurrently, Indonesia is not a state-party to the ICC, but the country is in a strong position to assure the international community that the commemoration has no place for perpetrators of mass atrocities. His presence confers no added value to the purpose of the AAC[C]. Having al-Bashir in the AAC[C] will stain Indonesia'€™s reputation as a leading advocate of human-rights protection in ASEAN. Indonesia has the moral responsibility to show solidarity with the victims of Bashir'€™s atrocity crimes,'€ she added.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir defended the decision to invite the controversial leaders.

'€œWe invited all 109 Asian-African Conference members. We do not discriminate,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

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