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Indonesia’s Parliament Bans Sex Outside Marriage
(CTN NEWS) – JAKARTA – On Tuesday, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, saw a significant blow to its citizens’ rights when its parliament approved laws that will make having sex outside of marriage illegal.
Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, the deputy house speaker, slammed the gavel to indicate the text’s approval and yelled “legal” after all nine parties adopted it in a comprehensive revamp of the penal code.
For decades, there has been discussion about updating Indonesia’s outdated penal code, which dates back to the Dutch colonial era.
After the controversial new criminal code received the majority of votes from lawmakers during the plenary session, deputy house speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad banged the gavel to signal the text was approved and shouted “legal”.
Full story: https://t.co/gyXJ7gaeP5 pic.twitter.com/3vSmGum4oH
— Daily Tribune (@tribunephl) December 6, 2022
Rights organizations opposed the modifications, calling them a crackdown on political and civil liberties and a move toward fundamentalism in Indonesia.
A Muslim-majority country where the constitution recognizes five other religions besides Islam.
Yasonna Laoly, minister of law and human rights, addressed the legislature, “We have done our best to accommodate the major problems and varied perspectives which were debated.”
“To abandon the colonial criminal code we inherited in the past, it is time for us to make a historical decision regarding the penal code change.”
Although the government insists that foreigners visiting Bali won’t be impacted, Indonesian business organizations have criticized the article criminalizing extramarital sex as hurting the country’s tourism industry.
After three years, the new code—which still needs President Joko Widodo’s approval—will go into effect.
Yasonna Laoly, Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights, receives the new criminal code report from Bambang Wuryanto.
Morality Clauses
The document, which AFP was able to view, stipulates that having intercourse outside of marriage will result in a year in prison while living together while single will result in a six-month sentence.
Before the voting, Albert Aries from the Measure and Human Rights Ministry argued in favor of the modifications and claimed that the law would safeguard marriage institutions.
Only reporting of extramarital sex by a spouse, parent, or child severely constrained the use of the amendment, he claimed.
Sung Yong Kim, the US ambassador to Indonesia, expressed his concern about “morality clauses” in the penal code that could hurt enterprises during a business conference on Tuesday before the vote.
Pemerintah AS akan terus melalukan dialog dengan pemerintah Indonesia meski bebebagai pihak telah resmi menyatakan penolakan kunjungan Utusan Khusus AS untuk HAM LGBTQI+ Jessica Stern. Demikian pernyataan Duta Besar AS untuk Indonesia Sung Yong Kim. https://t.co/xmTwXkaMgA
— Hidayatullah.com (@hidcom) December 6, 2022
Homosexuality was supposed to be made criminal in earlier draughts. However, this is no longer present in the final version.
However, because Indonesia does not recognize same-sex marriage, the new laws on adultery and cohabitation might potentially be used to criminalize members of the LGBTQ community, according to Human Rights Watch’s Andreas Harsono.
Several other nations, like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and the Philippines, forbid adultery and impose severe penalties on extramarital sex.
Bambang Wuryanto, head of the parliamentary commission overseeing the revision, passes the report of the new criminal code to Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, Deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, during a parliamentary plenary meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 6, 2022.
A Step Back
The new code, according to analysts, also limits some political liberties.
Several blasphemy-related items, which are already illegal in Indonesia, are among the amendments. There will also be a two-year to a four-year prison sentence for coercing people to forsake their religion.
The maximum sentence for spreading beliefs “contradictory to Pancasila,” Indonesia’s official ideology that emphasizes unity and respect for ethnic and religious minorities, is four years in prison.
The death penalty, primarily applied to drug offenses in Indonesia, will now be followed by a 10-year probationary period, during which the sentence may be commuted to life in prison for good behavior.
The commission’s chairman, Bambang Wuryanto, stated that “this is a product of humans and hence it will never be perfect.”
Bambang Wuryanto, head of the parliamentary commission overseeing the revision of Indonesia’s criminal code, speaks during a parliamentary plenary meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 6, 2022.
However, he encouraged opponents to “submit a judicial review to the constitutional court” instead of protesting.
Rights organizations criticized the law as morality police.
Usman Hamid, director of Amnesty International Indonesia, told AFP that:
“the passage of the criminal code bill is a step back in the protection of civil rights… particularly on the privileges of freedom of expression and press freedom.”
“What we’re witnessing is a huge setback to Indonesia’s hard-won progress in protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Usman Hamid @amnestyindo on passage of the country’s new criminal code. https://t.co/XFWRvak1N0
— Sara Schonhardt (@saraschonhardt) December 6, 2022
When a similar draught law was attempted to be passed in 2019, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in protests that ultimately compelled the government to back down.
Around a dozen protestors with banners gathered in Jakarta’s center on Tuesday.
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