A/HRC/4/24/Add.3 page 11 36. The Government has negotiated several bilateral agreements with labour-receiving countries, including most recently a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Malaysia on migrant domestic workers which was signed on 13 May 2006 in Bali. The combination of an unhealthy level of competition among labour-sending countries and Indonesia’s allegedly weak bargaining position during negotiations for the MOU has led to an agreement that fails to provide adequate protection to domestic migrant workers in accordance with the international standards to which Indonesia is committed. C. Bilateral agreements: the Memorandum of Understanding between Indonesia and Malaysia 37. The MOU with Malaysia covers procedural matters regarding recruitment, but makes little mention of employees’ rights. However, by ignoring international legal standards the MOU allows human rights violations by (i) denying Indonesian workers the right to freedom of association, as stipulated in article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 22 of ICCPR; (ii) the right to freedom of movement stated in article 13 of the Universal Declaration and article 12 ICCPR; and (iii) the right to marriage under article 16 of the Universal Declaration. 38. This long-awaited agreement leaves migrants in a vulnerable situation as it does not guarantee standard labour protections, nor does it include measures to prevent and respond to cases of abuse. Furthermore, the signing of the MOU was not advertised publicly and none of the Indonesian migrants interviewed by the Special Rapporteur was aware of its existence. Appendix A.xii (Responsibilities of the Employer) of the MOU provides: “The Employer shall be responsible for the safe keeping of the Domestic Worker’s passport and to surrender such passport to the Indonesian Mission in the event of abscondment or death of the Domestic Worker.” There is no mention of any receipt to be given for retention of the passport. This provision contravenes CMW, to which Indonesia is a signatory, article 21 of which states: “It shall be unlawful for anyone, other than a public official duly authorized by law, to confiscate, destroy or attempt to destroy identity documents, documents authorizing entry to or stay, residence or establishment in the national territory or work permits. No authorized confiscation of such documents shall take place without delivery of a detailed receipt. In no case shall it be permitted to destroy the passport or equivalent document of a migrant worker or a member of his or her family.” 39. Although Indonesia has not yet ratified CMW, as a signatory it is nonetheless bound by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, article 18 of which states: “A State is obliged to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose of a treaty when: “(a) It has signed the treaty or has exchanged instruments constituting the treaty subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, until it shall have made its intention clear not to become a party to the treaty; or “(b) It has expressed its consent to be bound by the treaty, pending the entry into force of the treaty and provided that such entry into force is not unduly delayed.”