Civil Freedoms Under Threat

The amended articles in the Criminal Code Bill, which the House of Representatives (DPR) expects to approve during a plenary meeting on 24 Sept. 2019 could threaten civil liberties.

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

The Civil Alliance for Democratic Justice holds a rally on Sunday (15/9/2019) at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, calling on the people to reject the Criminal Code Bill (RKUHP), which it says contains problematic articles that threaten democracy.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS —  The amended articles in the Criminal Code Bill (RKUHP), which the House of Representatives (DPR) expects to approve during a plenary meeting on 24 Sept. 2019 – the final day of the legislative session – could threaten civil liberties. Several articles in the RKUHP that have been deemed problematic could have negative implications for civil society.

The “rubber” articles in the bill include the accommodation of living law, insulting the president, vice president, the government and state institutions, obstruction and contempt of court and public decency.

Coordinator Yati Andriyani of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said in Jakarta on Tuesday (17/9) that the RKUHP could potentially undermine the state’s commitment to protecting civil and political rights that had been ongoing since democracy 20 years ago. This was because the House members did not care about public aspirations regarding matters that needed to be addressed before completing the draft KUHP Bill.

On Sunday (15/9), the government and the House’s RKUHP working committee agreed to the final draft of the KUHP Bill. The committee will submit the final draft KUHP Bill to House Commission III for deliberating this week. Following this, the RKUHP is scheduled to be passed into law during the House plenary session on Tuesday (24/9).

Yati questioned the legislative process of the KUHP Bill, which was discussed in closed-door meetings. She said this was tantamount to disregarding Law No. 12/2011 on lawmaking, and showed the lawmakers’ failure in fulfilling the people\'s mandate.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Two activists of the Civil Alliance for Democratic Justice take part in a rally on Sunday (15/9/2019) at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta. The organization is calling on the Indonesian people to reject the Criminal Code Bill (RKUHP), which it says contain problematic articles that pose a threat to democracy.

"The RKUHP has the potential to turn the state into a perpetrator of human rights violations and [it] could also have an impact in curbing civil liberties," she said.

Institute for Criminal Justice Reform researcher Maidina Rahmawati said that the RKUHP contained several articles that were irrelevant to democratic life, such as the offense of insulting the president/vice president (Articles 218-220), the offense of insulting state institutions (Articles 353-354) and the offense of insulting a legitimate government (Articles 240-241).

Managing private life

Maidina said that the articles on offenses concerning public decency indicated that the state had gone too far in regulating the constitutional rights of private citizens, and that these regulations could have a bad implication on social life.

Criminal law lecturer Agustinus Pohan from Bandung’s Parahyangan University said that the House and the government agreeing to include these offenses in the private realm appeared to be an emotional decision. "They include the offenses due to religious principles without properly considering the benefits if the offenses come into force," he said.

If the living law provision is written down as regional regulations, it is no longer customary law. Those regulations would be a political product of a region.

Regarding living law, Agustinus said that the recognition of customary norms should not be incorporated within the framework of criminal justice. In terms of legality, customary law cannot be incorporated within the domain of criminal justice because it was unwritten. "If the living law provision is written down as regional regulations, it is no longer customary law. Those regulations would be a political product of a region," he said.

Agustinus was concerned that if the bill was pushed into law, several provisions in the RKUHP could create problems in people\'s lives. Law enforcement officials could also encounter difficulties in enforcing those provisions.

Taufiqulhadi, who represents the Nasdem Party on the House RKUHP working committee, said that immediate approval of the RKUHP bill was an urgent need. Passing the RKUHP was necessary because the Criminal Code was the basic foundation of the criminal justice system in Indonesia.

"The most important thing is that we pass it. Parties that feel that it has problematic articles, please go ahead and submit a judicial review with the Constitutional Court. Any number of articles can be submitted for judicial review, even up to 100 articles, please feel free. [As a result], this Criminal Code will be even better," he said.

(SAN)