Children's protection bill condemned<\/p>\n
Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organization activists harshly criticized the
\nbill on children's protection being deliberated by the House of
\nRepresentatives for what they claimed was a lack of details,
\nvague sanctions and an absence of a watchdog committee.<\/p>\n
Bambang Budi Setiawan of the Indonesian Child Welfare
\nFoundation, said that the House seemed to be in a hurry in
\ncomposing the bill, which resulted in a less than comprehensive
\nlaw.<\/p>\n
Indonesia ratified the UN Convention on Child Protection in
\n1990.<\/p>\n
\"I know that the deadline is tight but the bill must be made
\nstronger for the sake of children, not for some groups or
\npolitical parties,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The bill is expected to be passed into law on July 17 to
\ncommemorate National Children's Day on July 23.<\/p>\n
Separately, the National Committee for Child Protection
\nsecretary general Aris Merdeka Sirait said that he suspected the
\nbill reeked of political interference at it ignored the
\nestablishment of a national committee for children's rights.<\/p>\n
\"I am convinced that the bill is only a paper tiger, because
\nthe rules are not feasible,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
Both Aris and Bambang said that in the late 1990s, some NGOs
\nsubmitted a similar draft on children's protection that was much
\nmore comprehensive, feasible and reliable than the current bill.<\/p>\n
Aris said that the bill would not give clear sanctions to the
\ngovernment when it failed to provide public facilities for
\nchildren to play, especially in residential areas.<\/p>\n
He said that the law should impose a punishment of at least
\nfive years in jail to parents who pushed children to work as TV
\nstars late at night and \"severe\" sanctions to parents who forced
\nchildren to study more than four hours a day.<\/p>\n
They agreed that the establishment of a national committee for
\nchildren's rights, a watchdog body for law implementation, was at
\nleast one crucial point that was missing from the current bill.<\/p>\n
\"The committee needs to be set up to control whether the
\npolicy makers violate the law and to report to international
\norganizations about the progress of child protection in
\nIndonesia,\" Bambang said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/childrens-protection-bill-condemned-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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