Ardito Ramadhan, Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition for the Reform of the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) believes that the draft revisions to the KUHAP prepared by the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission III actually creates space for the abuse of power by law enforcement officials.
Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Chairperson Muhammad Isnur, a member of the Coalition, also questioned the process of drafting the revisions to the KUHAP, which was not transparent and had minimal public participation.
"All of a sudden there was a draft that did not (go through) an open discussion. And the draft itself raises many questions, because it tends to create the potential for abuse of power by officials in investigations and so on", said Isnur said fulfilling an invitation from Commission III to discuss the Draft Criminal Procedural Code (RUU KUHAP) on Tuesday April 8.
During the meeting with Commission III, the coalition touched on a number of unlawful practices that occur in the field such as wrongful arrests, violence during investigations and deaths in custody. Therefore, Isnur emphasised that the discussion on the RUU KUHAP must be carried out carefully and openly.
"Because there are so many daily incidents that people experience, wrongful arrests, brutality, torture, people even die in detention. There are so many incidents that are found every day", said Isnur.
"So we remind you not to rush the discussions, do it slowly, and not as if it's targeted to be completed by, for example in May or June. It must accommodate the aspirations and the wishes of all stakeholders in society", he concluded.
On the same occasion, Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Chairperson Nani Afrida said that the RUU KUHAP that had been prepared by Commission III has the potential to disrupt press freedom.
"For example, court hearings are closed, or must be streamed, and there must be some kind of permission from the chief justice. We feel that this interferes with the work of the press which should be transparent, we must know what is happening inside", said Afrida.
She also urged that the proposed articles on the prohibition of mass media from broadcasting live trials without court permission to be removed from the RUU KUHAP.
"That's why I, together with my friends from the Coalition, are trying to get articles like this, which are disrupting our work now, removed from there. If possible, abolished", she said.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Draf RUU KUHAP Dinilai Buka Ruang "Abuse of Power" hingga Ganggu Kebebasan Pers".]
