Team seeks to sanction interfaith marriages
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia may again officially recognize interfaith marriages as a joint team tasked with formulating a new bill on civil registration has agreed that such matters are a basic right which should not be restricted by the state.
Though the draft of the bill is not expected for another year, Albertus Sugeng, head of the working committee of the Consortium for Civil Registration, told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday that the committee agreed the bill "must reduce the role of the state so it does not intervene in one's religion."
The classic debate on the separation of state and religion is likely to reemerge as the consortium, which was formed in May, begins to disseminate its ideas on the issue.
The consortium's proposal would directly invalidate Marriage Law No. 1/1974 which stipulates that a marriage is only legal when it is conducted according to one faith or religion.
In practice a marriage can only be recognized if the couple is of the same faith.
Consequently couples of different religions find it difficult to get their marriage legalized here and thus seek alternative recourses, among which, going abroad is one option with Singapore being the most popular destination.
According to Albertus, there are now some 5,000 Indonesian couples on a waiting list to have their marriage registered on the island state.
"This is very disturbing. Marriage is part of human rights. It's my right to choose whom I marry," Albertus argued.
He added that with the eventual introduction of the new civil registration law, "the marriage law must be revised."
The current marriage law, Albertus further contends, also discriminates against nondenominational faiths such as the Confucian and Baha'i faiths.
Currently the Civil Registration Office refuses to acknowledge couples of nondenominational faiths, forcing couples to convert to one of the religions recognized by the state: Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Protestant and Catholicism.
The consortium is funded by, among others, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and Plan International, and comprises of non-governmental organizations and government agencies.
Its task is to reform the civil registry system in Indonesia.
Members include representatives from the National Commission on Human Rights, the Indonesian Antidiscrimination Movement, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The consortium's work is prompted by concern that the Civil Registry is still based on four archaic Dutch laws which segregated residents in colonial Indonesia based on their race and religion.
"These colonial laws are obsolete and discriminative. They must be changed," Albertus said referring to Staatsblads 1849, 1917, 1920 and 1933.
Another change the consortium wishes to usher in with the new bill is the allowance for foreigners to be married and registered here.
"If other countries allow Indonesian couples to get married in their country, why shouldn't we? This is globalization and no one can stop that," Albertus remarked.
The consortium also proposes that birth certificates for all babies born here be free of charge under a simplified process.
A study by Unicef and Plan International indicates that 70 percent of children here do not have birth certificates.
Currently the official fee for obtaining a birth certificate is Rp 9,000.