A/HRC/8/52 page 140 368. Franciscans International, also on behalf of Pax Romana and Dominicans for Justice and Peace (Order of Preachers), wished to acknowledge the questions raised by various States on the situation of human rights in West Papua, noting however that these questions remained unanswered and that any specific mention of West Papua was avoided in the recommendations. The organizations further encouraged Indonesia: to follow-up on the recommendation to issue a standing invitation to all special procedures, including to visit West Papua; to urgently ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture; to prosecute without delay those responsible for gross human rights violations in Timor-Leste, in particular those who currently operate in Aceh and in West Papua; and welcomed Indonesia’s renewed commitment to adopting a definition of torture in the Criminal Code in accordance with the Convention against Torture. The organizations further noted that the universal periodic review has indicated to Indonesia the way to fully comply with human rights treaty standards. Indonesia must engage in a frank and open dialogue in order to address all outstanding human rights concerns, particularly in West Papua. 369. In a joint statement, the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development and Pax Romana expressed appreciation for the universal periodic review process, noting that several important issues had been raised during the dialogue, while others were not adequately addressed by the Indonesian delegation. With regard to the voluntary commitments made by Indonesia, they regretted that Indonesia had only made one commitment to continue the socialization of the universal periodic review in cooperation with civil society and Komnas HAM. They also welcomed the recommendations made during the review which would be implemented by Indonesia to further the protection of human rights in the country. They expressed their appreciation to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for having accepted the request to facilitate a dialogue between the Coalition of Indonesian Human Rights NGOs and various State agencies on the report of the universal periodic review on Indonesia, which was held in Jakarta on 26 May 2008 and led to the agreement to make the following two additional voluntary commitments: to incorporate a definition of torture into the Indonesian Criminal Code in accordance with the Convention against Torture; and to combat impunity by improving the legal and institutional framework in order to have a credible Human Rights Court and Truth and Reconciliation Commission to bring justice to the victims of human rights violations. They had hoped that these additional voluntary commitments would be adopted during the plenary session. 370. The Asian Legal Resource Centre welcomed the acknowledgement of many of the serious human rights concerns in Indonesia, including the need for the criminalization of torture. However, it regretted the lack of any clear agreement by the Government to take decisive, timely action concerning this issue and further regretted the lack of a commitment by the Government to address the problems of impunity and the ongoing violations in Papua as a result of the universal periodic review process. The Asian Legal Resource Centre welcomed Indonesia’s offer to include criminal investigation units from the national police in future delegations to the Council and treaty body sessions. It also expressed concern about claims in the report of the Working Group that Komnas HAM is an independent body. Concerning the outcomes on Papua, the Government had claimed an improvement in the situation of its indigenous people, but the organization noted that civil society reports from Papua starkly contradict this view. The Asian Legal Resource Centre remains seriously concerned about the security of human rights defenders and civil society organizers in the region and indicated that human rights remain a taboo in

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