Legal activists reject Code revision
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A rights activist and a lawyer have expressed concern over a government proposal to criminalize extramarital sex and some sexual acts by minors, saying it would infringe citizens' basic rights.
Human rights activist Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said on Tuesday the planned revision of the Criminal Code (KUHP), which would entail the criminalization of certain sexual behavior, would leave no scope for citizens to lead their lives in private.
The planned revision was proposed by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to replace the outdated code, a legacy from the Dutch colonial era.
A copy of the revised KUHP shows that among the new articles are those relating to casual sex, witchcraft or black magic, Marxism-Leninism, contempt of court, oral sex and sodomy.
"The government has no right to decide what is right or wrong about the sexual orientation of its citizens or to punish a couple that lives together outside of wedlock. It has no authority to interfere with what may occur in citizens' bedrooms," Hendardi told The Jakarta Post.
He added that the ministry's proposal to outlaw the teaching of Marxism-Leninism also violated mankind's fundamental rights.
"People cannot be punished for following a particular ideology," he said.
As for criminalizing witchcraft or black magic, Hendardi said that it would only add to the problems of the already-corrupt legal system. "Due process of law needs concrete evidence to prove certain offenses. In such a case (witchcraft or black magic), how could you prove it?" he said.
Director General of Law and Regulations at the ministry Abdul Gani Abdullah said that revision of the outdated KUHP was aimed at coping with the complexity of Indonesian society.
However, Hendardi said he had suspicions that the revision was being made to accommodate the interests of particular groups in society.
"The ministry has bowed to incessant pressure from narrow- minded religious groups, to which the justice minister himself belongs," he said.
Justice and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra is the chairman of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), which has long fought for the inclusion of sharia (Islamic laws) into state legislation and the Constitution.
Noted lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution concurred with Hendardi, saying that the planned revision would bring adverse effects to the country's legal system.
"The inclusion of articles bearing the influence of certain religious teachings into the KUHP will go against the universal principles of criminal codes adopted by almost every country in the world," he said here on Tuesday.
He also said that the planned revision would jeopardize the ideals of a democratic society as envisioned by the country's founding fathers.
"Citizens from other religious beliefs would be discriminated against if the criminal code accommodated only one religious teaching as its foundation," Buyung said.