E/CN.4/1999/15 page 30 beginning of November 1998. The report is expected to contain some recommendations for the Government which the latter is fully committed to implementing. 124. President Habibie has pledged to institute better protection of Sino-Indonesians, their life and property. In this regard, the Government has begun reviewing the legislation to ensure that all citizens are treated equally before the law as enshrined in the 1945 Constitution, and that no government regulation is discriminatory against any racial group. The Indonesian Government has now abolished the use of identifying codes on Indonesian Chinese identity cards. More importantly, it has made preparations for the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination before the end of 1998. 125. Although the May riots appeared to be characterized by a phenomenon of racial discrimination and religious intolerance, which targeted mostly non-Muslim Indonesian ethnic Chinese, the long-established Indonesian tradition of mutual respect and dialogue among diverse religious believers, without racial distinction, remains unchanged. The informal consultation mechanism established between the various communities and religious leaders, such as that sponsored by Abdurrohman Wahid of the Islamic organization “Nahdlatul Ulama” and leaders of other religions, has intensified in an effort to help solve the current social problems faced by the Indonesian people. An inter-religious foundation, Yayasan Panca Dian Kasih, was recently established by several prominent Islamic, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu personalities to strengthen religious tolerance at the grass-roots level. It is also worth noting that on 1 August 1998, thousands of Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Kong Hu Chu believers, Baha'is and believers of other religious denominations, gathered together to pray in Banteng Square in Jakarta in solidarity at the human tragedy in recent months throughout the country: this joint prayer reflects the longstanding tradition of co-existence between people of different religions and ethnic origins. 126. In keeping with its spirit of cooperation and openness, the Government of Indonesia has promised to keep the Special Rapporteur informed of future developments in this matter. The Special Rapporteur has already received some excerpts from the report of the Joint Fact-Finding Team on the May 1998 Riots, which are available for consultation at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. V. FOLLOW-UP TO FIELD VISITS: LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL MEASURES TAKEN OR ENVISAGED BY GOVERNMENTS A. Germany 127. A general bill on racial discrimination was submitted to the Bundestag, which apparently did not adopt it. The Special Rapporteur would like to learn more about this initiative and he hopes that the Government of Germany will continue its efforts to strengthen its legislation against racial discrimination.