Jakarta, Indonesia
CNN
—
Indonesian lawmakers unanimously handed a sweeping new criminal code on Tuesday that criminalizes sex outside marriage, as a part of a tranche of changes that critics say threaten human rights and freedoms within the Southeast Asian nation.
The new code, which additionally applies to overseas residents and vacationers, bans cohabitation earlier than marriage, apostasy, and supplies punishments for insulting the president or expressing views counter to the nationwide ideology.
“All have agreed to ratify the (draft changes) into law,” mentioned lawmaker Bambang Wuryanto, who led the parliamentary fee in command of revising the colonial-era code. “The old code belongs to Dutch heritage … and is no longer relevant.”
The world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia has seen an increase in spiritual conservatism lately. Strict Islamic legal guidelines are already enforced in components of the nation, together with the semi-autonomous Aceh province, the place alcohol and playing are banned. Public floggings additionally happen within the area for a variety of offenses together with homosexuality and adultery.
The adjustments to the criminal code haven’t solely alarmed human rights advocates, who warned of their potential to stifle private freedoms, but in addition journey trade representatives – who nervous about their potential impact on tourism.
In a information convention Tuesday, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly mentioned it wasn’t straightforward for a multicultural and multi-ethnic nation to make a criminal code that “accommodates all interests.”
He mentioned he hoped that Indonesians understood that lawmakers had accomplished all the things they may to accommodate “public aspiration,” and invited dissatisfied events to submit a judicial assessment to the constitutional courtroom.
In the lead as much as Tuesday’s vote, rights teams and critics warned that the new code would “disproportionately impact women” and additional curtail human rights and freedoms within the nation of greater than 270 million folks.
“What we’re witnessing is a huge setback to Indonesia’s hard-won progress in protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms after the 1998 revolution. This criminal code should have never been passed in the first place,” mentioned Usman Hamid, government director of Amnesty International Indonesia.
The new criminal code runs to 200 pages and has been years within the making.
A earlier draft was set to be handed in 2019 however the vote was postponed after thousands of protesters, mostly students, took to the streets demanding the federal government withdraw it.
In a televised handle on the time, President Joko Widodo mentioned he would delay the vote after “seriously considering feedback from different parties who feel objections on some substantial content of the criminal code.”
Hamid from Amnesty famous there had been “no meaningful changes” enacted since 2019.
Under the model handed Tuesday, sex outside marriage carries a possible one-year jail time period although there a restrictions on who can lodge a proper grievance. For instance, the dad and mom of youngsters who’re cohabitating earlier than marriage have the authority to report them.
As effectively as introducing new offenses, the code additionally expands on present legal guidelines and punishments. Blasphemy legal guidelines have elevated from “one to six provisions” and may now result in a most five-year jail sentence, in line with a draft doc.
Hamid mentioned legal guidelines on insulting the nation’s leaders and unsanctioned protests could have a “chilling effect” on free speech.
“The reinstatement of provisions banning insults to the president and vice president, the sitting government as well as state institutions would further create a palpable chilling effect on freedom of speech and criminalize legitimate criticisms,” he mentioned.
Human Rights Watch Indonesia Researcher Andreas Harsono mentioned the legal guidelines are “a setback for already declining religious freedom in Indonesia,” warning they might be misused to focus on sure people.
“The danger of oppressive laws is not that they’ll be broadly applied, it’s that they provide avenue for selective enforcement,” he mentioned.
Hadi Rahmat Purnama, from the University of Indonesia’s legislation college, mentioned the legal guidelines can be carried out after a transitional interval of three years.
The legal guidelines are anticipated to bother the enterprise neighborhood, particularly those that commonly host and cater for overseas nationals and vacationers.
The island of Bali, for instance, depends closely on vacationer income and continues to be recovering from the pandemic slowdown that saved vacationers away.
Putu Winastra, chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) in Bali, instructed CNN the legal guidelines would “make foreigners think twice” about visiting Indonesia.
“From our point of view as tourism industry players, this law will be very troublesome,” mentioned Putu, who questioned how the legal guidelines can be policed.
“Should we ask (overseas unmarried couples) if they are married or not? Do tourist couples have to prove that they are married?” he requested.
Putu mentioned the legal guidelines might be “counterproductive” to any efforts to entice vacationers again to the island.
“If these laws are really implemented later, tourists might be (subjected) to jail and this will harm tourism,” he mentioned.
