Jakarta – A number of civil society organisations have urged the government to publish the latest version of the Draft Criminal Code (RKUHP).
Up until now the latest draft of the RKUHP still cannot be accessed by the public even though it will reportedly be enacted into law in July.
The Justice and Human Rights Ministry (Kemenkumham) claims that the it is still discussing the improvements to the RKUHP with the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission III.
In response to this, Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) researcher Hussein Ahmad says that the government should not be allowed to play "cat and mouse" with the people. According to Ahmad, the latest draft of the RKUHP must be distributed among the public immediately.
This is because the contents of the law concerns the greater public welfare.
"The government cannot be allowed to play cat and mouse with its own people. The RKUHP is of concern to everyone because it concerns the greater public welfare. The deliberations and the document cannot be closed", Ahmad told CNN Indonesia on Friday June 17.
According to Ahmad, if the government and the DPR stubbornly refused to reveal the contents of the draft, it is certain that the law is problematic. "Our experience has been that if the government insists on closing public access to a draft law, then the law is definitely problematic. The example being the PSDN Law", said Ahmad.
Law Number 23/2019 on the Management of National Resources (PSDN) for State Defense did indeed court controversy in 2019 because in general it regulated national defense.
It contained several regulations which were considered problematic including those related to the principles of conscientious objection or a person refusing national service based upon their beliefs.
Then the budget for the reserve component activities which was considered un-centralistic, along with the absense of stipulations regulating exceptions for those who refuse military service.
It is because of this that Ahmad is asking the government to reveal the contents of the RKUHP in its entirety and involve civil society in monitoring its enactment. "The government must publish the draft in its entirety. Involve society, non-government organisations, campuses, and the like", he said.
Similar calls have been made by the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), with ICJR researcher Maidina Rahmawati asking that the entire draft of the RKUHP being shared with the public.
"Focus on the entire draft of the RKUHP being opened to the public", said Rahmawati when contacted.
Earlier, the ICJR released a statement asking the government to reveal the latest draft of the RKUHP and for deliberations on the law to be done carefully and in a substantive manner.
In addition to this, they also asked that the deliberations not be just restricted to the 14 problematic points in the law but also provide an opportunity for the DPR to raise other problematic points.
The DPR is targeting enacting the RKUHP in early July. Up until now however, the latest draft of the RKUHP still cannot be accessed by the public.
The Justice and Human Rights Ministry claims it is still discussing the result of improvements to the RKUHP with the DPR. The 14 problematic points have already been agreed to based on the results of public socialisation. (blq/kid)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Ramai Desak Buka Draf RKUHP: Jangan Kucing-kucingan dengan Rakyat".]
