Punk in Finland

Outcry at Indonesia draft criminal code that could see unmarried couples jailed

New draft bill, decades in the making, could also criminalise insulting the president and tightens abortion laws

Indonesia is set to pass a new criminal code that could outlaw living together outside marriage and insulting the president, among a raft of controversial new measures that rights groups have decried as disastrous.

The Indonesian parliament has spent decades revising its colonial-era criminal code, creating a 628-article draft bill that could be passed in coming days.

Containing a series of contentious new revisions, a coalition of Indonesian rights groups argue the new code violates the rights of women, religious minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, as well as freedom of speech and association.

“Indonesia’s draft criminal code is disastrous not only for women and religious and gender minorities, but for all Indonesians,” said Andreas Harsono, senior Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, “Lawmakers should remove all the abusive articles before passing the law.”

Activists have called on president Joko Widodo to delay the bill, saying significant revisions were required.

In the world’s most populous Muslim nation, among one of the most controversial early inclusions in the draft penal code was the article on adultery, which could see extramarital sex punishable by up to one year in prison, although reports on Thursday morning indicated that article was removed in a legislative meeting on Wednesday night.

A separate article states that couples living together outside marriage could be sentenced to six months in prison, an offence that can be reported by a village head, while another specifies that only health professionals and “competent volunteers” can discuss contraception and family planning.

“The bill’s provisions censoring information about contraception could set back the progress Indonesia has made in recent years to dramatically reduce maternal deaths,” Harsono said.

Subsequent articles state that only doctors have the right to decide on abortions. Under the draft law, a woman who has unlawfully terminated her pregnancy could face four years in prison.

Indicative of Indonesia’s increasing religious conservatism, the new draft further recognises any “living law”, which could be interpreted to include local sharia or customary laws at the local level, of which there are hundreds across the country that discriminate against women, LGBT people and religious minorities.

The new code also looks set to rollback Indonesia’s notable press freedoms by making it a criminal offence to insult the president and vice president.

This week, on the back of another problematic law that is widely expected to weaken a critical anti-corruption commission, the media published scathing caricatures of the president – content that could be deemed unlawful in the future.

The new code will further expand the existing blasphemy law, and outlines a 10-year prison term for associating with organisations that follow a Marxist-Leninist ideology.

https://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000006267787.html wrote:Indonesian turvallisuusasioista vastaavaa ministeriä puukotettiin

Uutistoimisto AFP:n mukaan puukottajalla oli jonkinlaisia viitteitä Isisiin liittyvästä radikalismista.

INDONESIAN turvallisuusasioista vastaavaa ministeriä Wirantoa puukotettiin torstaina, kun hän oli vierailemassa Banten provinssissa Jaavan saarella. Wirantoa puukotettiin, kun hän oli astumassa autosta ulos, kertoo uutistoimisto Reuters.

Uutistoimisto AFP:n mukaan Wirantoa puukotettiin, kun hän oli astumassa autoon. AFP:n mukaan puukottajalla oli jonkinlaisia viitteitä Isisiin liittyvästä radikalismista.

Indonesian poliisin tiedottajan Dedi Prasetyon mukaan ministeriä puukottanut henkilö on otettu kiinni. Yksi poliisi loukkaantui kiinnioton yhteydessä, kertoo uutistoimisto Reuters.

Wiranto vietiin sairaalaan, kertoo Reuters.

'Dark day for human rights': Indonesia's Widodo makes arch-rival defence minister

General Prabowo Subianto, who has been accused of abuses against pro-democracy activists, named as part of new cabinet

Indonesian president Joko Widodo has appointed his former bitter election rival Prabowo Subianto – an ex-army general accused of human rights abuses – as his defence minister.

Widodo announced his cabinet line-up on Wednesday having beaten Subianto, in April’s general election. At least nine people died and over 200 were injured due to riots in Jakarta following the fraught campaign, during which Subianto accused Widodo’s government of hosting a “massive, systematic and fraudulent” election.

News of Subianto’s expected appointment caused unrest among many Widodo supporters earlier this week. Public unease over Subianto wielding power over the armed forces derives from his previous military record. A former son-in-law of the late Indonesian dictator Suharto, Subianto was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and torture of activists ahead of anti-government demonstrations in 1998, when he was an army commander. He has never been charged in relation to the alleged incidents.

Ahead of Subianto’s appointment, Usman Hamid, Amnesty International’s Indonesia executive, said “it would be a dark day for human rights in this country” if he got the defence job.

This year’s election campaign, marred by a flood of misinformation, was bitterly fought between Subianto and Widodo. However, since the result was announced the pair have appeared together in public, with Subianto saying on Monday that his party, Gerindra, was “ready to help if asked” to bolster the president’s coalition government cabinet.

When Subianto’s defence minister position was officially announced Widodo said: “I believe I don’t have to tell him about his job – he knows more than I do.”

Elsewhere in the cabinet Widodo focused on appointing professionals rather than political party members. Nadiem Makarim, co-founder of ride-hailing company Gojek, was made education and culture minister. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the former World Bank managing director, was reappointed finance minister.

As his second term begins, Widodo, 58, faces many challenges beyond his main stated goal of improving the nation’s economy. This month a suspected Isis radical attacked his chief security minister, and violence broke out in Papua as protestors marched against alleged abuses by officials and demanded Papuan independence.

Widodo has also faced a public backlash over a proposed draconian penal code amendment that would criminalise publicly criticising the Indonesian government and court system. The move has been branded “undemocratic” by law expert critics.