T

he chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Hafid Abbas, has called for an end to discrimination and stigma against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, urging the government to issue more supportive regulations.

'€œThey have been marginalized, inflicted with violence, isolation. It cannot be justified. [...] We can'€™t build this country with persistent stigmatization of and discrimination against the LGBT community,'€ Hafid told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said the government had a lot of work to do, including implementing a regulation on the treatment of LGBT people as citizens of the country.

'€œThere should be a more technical procedure on the protection of the LGBT community because much of the violence they have suffered is inflicted by legal authorities,'€ Hafid said.

Currently, Indonesia has no specific law on the protection of LGBT people except the 1945 Constitution.

Komnas HAM is also calling for more widespread dissemination of information clarifying that it is the responsibility of all members of society to both protect the rights of the LGBT community and provide programs to address physical and psychological harm they may have suffered from past abuse.

Forum LGBT Indonesia, a coalition of LGBT individuals, recorded 47 cases of abuse against gay individuals across the country in 2013.