The paper assesses "... the potential influence of international human rights law, mediated through United Nations covenants and conventions, on the development of human rights in Indonesia. Progress and regression in this field are determined by complex combinations of domestic and external causes, though primary focus will be on responses by the Indonesian state ... Indonesia, though a member of the United Nations since its inception ... has only acceded to a limited number of human rights instruments carrying the status of treaties." (Quoted from paper)