T

he House of Representatives will add a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on sexual violence, which stipulates chemical castration for rapists, to the Child Protection Law, despite objections from opposition parties.

National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Ali Taher Parasong, who chairs House Commission VIII overseeing religious and social affairs, said on Tuesday the decision would provide legal certainty for the public concerned about crimes, especially sex offenses, against children.

“Regarding the technical details of the castration, the government can formulate them in a government regulation [PP]. Most importantly, we should first minimize the potential of further sex offences,” Ali said.

The Democratic Party as well as the opposition Gerindra Party and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) still object to rushing the Perppu into law, because the government has provided no clear mechanism on the castration procedure and the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) has refused to carry out the procedure citing its code of ethics.

In response, the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s law and regulations director general, Widodo Ekatjahjana, said the medical code of ethics had nothing to do with the Constitution. “They should bow to the Constitution, which is to uphold legal decisions, not to ethics codes. But if they insist, we can formulate it in the PP later,” Widodo said.