Indonesian lawmakers handed a sweeping new legal code on Tuesday that criminalizes intercourse exterior marriage, as a part of a tranche of adjustments that critics say threaten human rights and freedoms within the Southeast Asian nation.
The new code, which additionally applies to overseas residents and vacationers, bans cohabitation earlier than marriage, apostasy, and gives punishments for insulting the president or expressing views counter to the nationwide ideology.
“All have agreed to ratify the (draft changes) into law,” stated lawmaker Bambang Wuryanto, who led the parliamentary fee in command of revising the colonial-era code. “The old code belongs to Dutch heritage … and is no longer relevant.”
The crime of blasphemy, already on Indonesia’s books, now carries a attainable five-year jail time period.
Rights teams and critics warned that the brand new code will “disproportionately impact women” and additional curtail human rights and freedoms within the Muslim-majority nation of greater than 270 million individuals.
A earlier draft of the code was set to be handed in 2019 however was postponed after nationwide protests.
Human Rights Watch Indonesia Researcher Andreas Harsono warned the legal guidelines have been open to exploitation.
“The danger of oppressive laws is not that they’ll be broadly applied, it’s that they provide avenue for selective enforcement,” he stated.
Harsono referred to as the brand new legal guidelines “a setback for already declining religious freedom in Indonesia,” warning that “non-believers could be prosecuted and jailed.”
This is a growing story. More to come back.