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House postpones passage of chemical castration law
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Members of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) discuss the draft sexual violence bill with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta. (Kompas.com/Fabian Januarius Kuwado)
T
he House of Representatives postponed the passage of regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No. 1/2006 on Child Protection into law during a plenary meeting on Tuesday, citing the unclear details of the chemical castration sanction as the main reason of the cancellation.
Seven among ten political factions on House Commission VIII overseeing religious and social affairs had agreed with the Perppu, yet three factions namely the National Mandate Party (PAN), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and Gerindra Party, refused to pass the Perppu into law.
Rahayu Saraswati of the Gerindra Party said even though she agreed with most rulings within the Perppu, she slammed the lack of details regarding the implementation of chemical castration against convicted child molesters, including the details of who executes the punishment, the budget, the use of injection or pills, as well as the timing of the sanction.
"The regulations in this Perppu still leaves room for errors, including misdirection of targets. It's better for us to further improve and deliberate the Perppu to make it more comprehensive," Rahayu said during the meeting.
She further asserted that the Perppu, created in the wake of a national emergency after several cases of sexual violence against children in the country, still focused only on the punishment against perpetrators yet did not give much attention to the rehabilitation of victims.
House deputy speaker Taufik Kurniawan said the House would give the government a chance to complete the Perppu with recommendation from lawmakers, before passing it into law. (bbn)
