Indonesia and the International Bill of Rights: role and implementation

The International Bill of Rights: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, are the very foundation of international human rights law. The paramount and legal significance of these instruments are unquestionable both at international and national levels. This thesis aims to identify the role and influence of Indonesia in the drafting of the International Bill of Rights and to assess Indonesia’s implementation and compliance with the standard set forth under the provided reporting system. The Optional Protocols to the Covenants are not discussed in the thesis as Indonesia is not a State party to the Optional Protocols as of today.

This thesis departs from two research questions: what is the standpoint, position, and role of Indonesia in the drafting of the International Bill of Rights; and does Indonesia accept the International Bill of Rights and comply with the standard of implementation set forth under the periodic reports.

In answering the research questions, the thesis is divided into two parts. The First Part focuses on the role of Indonesia in the drafting of the International Bill of Rights. The thesis first establishes the Indonesian concept of human rights which became the basis for Indonesia in approaching the International Bill of Rights. The thesis then continues to examine the role, view and position of Indonesia in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenants on Human Rights. It examines, article by article, the position and role played by Indonesia in each provision of the International Covenants on Human Rights. The Second Part of the thesis analyses Indonesia’s implementation and compliance with the standard set forth under the periodic reports provided for the International Bill of Rights, including the Universal Periodic Review. In this part, the thesis discusses the compliance and the implementation of the substantive provisions of the Covenants, namely article 1 to 27 for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 1 to 15 for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The methodology used in this research is desk-based research in primary and secondary sources. For the first part, it looks extensively at the travaux préparatoires of the International Bill of Rights from 1945 to 1966, a period of about twenty-one years. It examines the summary records, procès-verbaux, proposals, documents, reports, resolutions of the relevant bodies involved in the drafting. For the constitution analysis, which becomes the basis to define the Indonesian concept of human rights, it looks at the minutes of Indonesian-Dutch negotiations and conferences between 1945 to 1949 both in Bahasa and in Dutch stored in the Dutch national archive. For the second part, it mainly relies on the documents produced related to the periodic reports, including the General Comments and the reports of the Special Rapporteur. In both parts, the thesis also looks at the secondary materials, mainly relies on the the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Travaux Préparatoires by William Schabas; Guide of the Travaux Préparatoires of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of Marc Bossuyt; and the U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, CCPR Commentary by Manfred Nowak, to confirm the argument and provide a better understanding.

This thesis proclaims and set forth the very basic philosophical concept of Indonesia’s human rights to better understand and define Indonesia’s legal approach towards the International Bill of Rights, and in general, towards the international human rights law.