Law against human trafficking 'urgent'
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives is being urged to immediately deliberate on the much-waited bill against human trafficking, a serious problem in the country, which mostly affects women and children.
"We want the draft law on human trafficking discussed and endorsed soon because our law enforcement people find it difficult to arrest human traffickers under the current laws," said Syafira Hardani, an officer overseeing the counter- trafficking program at the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS).
The bill is intended to go beyond Article 297 of the Criminal Code, which is meant to ban woman and child trafficking, but is not applicable for international or transnational crimes, while Article 324 on slavery is also inadequate.
Syafira said the bill was drafted to strengthen the commitment and efforts to prevent human trafficking crimes.
Under the bill, investigators are allowed to tap conversations by telephone or other types of communications devices suspected of being used to prepare, plan or commit human trafficking.
The draft law stipulates that human trafficking carries a minimum penalty of four years in prison, but if that crime causes the death of a victim, a suspect is subject to life imprisonment and fines ranging from Rp 60 million (US$6,315) to Rp 300 million.
The bill also includes articles on providing protection for victims and witnesses.
Several House members gave support for the call to immediately discuss the bill.
Latifah Iskandar, a member of the House's Commission VIII for religious, social and women's affairs, said the legislature was scheduled to begin deliberating on the bill later this year.
Asked why the plan for the deliberations was delayed, she explained that it was because of the change of the country's national leadership.
"We'll respond to it (the call) in a positive manner and urge the government to finalize the human trafficking bill together with the House," Latifah said, adding that lawmakers should take the initiative and find faster ways to deliberate on draft laws, especially very urgent ones such as these.
Anis Hamim, an activist from the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), said that existing Indonesian laws had no legal foundation for the fight against human trafficking.
"A new law is therefore desperately needed to curb human trafficking practices," he said.
In the year 2000, Indonesia signed the United Nations Convention against transnational organized crime, the protocol to prevent, suppress and human trafficking and punish its perpetrators, as well as the protocol against people smuggling via land, sea or air.
The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position, vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person.
Human trafficking, by that definition, is what many illegal or undocumented migrants suffer. Data from non-governmental organizations shows that currently between 1.4 million to 2.1 million of Indonesian female workers live abroad, including illegal or undocumented migrants.
According to a 2002 report from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, there were only 500,000 Indonesians who have gone overseas to work through legal channels.
In the same year, the Kramat Jati Police Hospital in Jakarta reported the number of migrant workers, who were treated there for mental illnesses and other diseases due to physical abuse, reached 449 people.
In 2003, the number of victims decreased to 392 people. However, in 2004 the number of victims increased again to 435. (004)