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‘Bleak future’: Rights groups paint grim picture after great democratic setback
Marking the annual International Human Rights Day, rights groups on Friday painted a disturbingly bleak picture of the country’s state of human rights with a controversial illiberal legislation being passed, lukewarm handling of past rights violations and persisting violence and impunity among security forces.
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Human rights activists hold a rally in front of the State Palace in Jakarta, demanding justice for past human rights abuses in this undated photo. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan)
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arking the annual International Human Rights Day, rights groups on Friday painted a disturbingly bleak picture of the country’s state of human rights with a controversial illiberal legislation being passed, lukewarm handling of past rights violations and persisting violence and impunity among security forces.
Once described as an important bellwether for the state of democracy in Southeast Asia, signs of regression under President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo’s administration have taken greater shape. A new consensus has emerged that Indonesia is now not only facing democratic stagnation but is in the midst of regression.
With the memory of an era of autocratic rule under Soeharto still lingering on, in the minds of activists controversial laws and faltering commitment to defend fundamental freedoms may overturn the country’s hard-won progress in protecting human rights.
"The Indonesian government might have bragged about its human rights achievements in the international forum, but the facts on the ground say otherwise,” Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said in a statement.
Shrinking civic space
The House of Representatives last week passed into law a controversial new criminal code replacing a clunky one dating back to colonial Dutch rule. The overhaul has been widely denounced by activists as a crackdown on civil liberties and political freedoms, triggering an alarm in the world’s third-largest democracy.
Articles viewed as problematic include bans on insulting a sitting president and some state institutions, views that contradict the state ideology Pancasila, protests without a permit, sex outside marriage and nonmarital cohabitation.
