REVISED DRAFT CRIMINAL CODE WORRIES ACTIVISTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 012607

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS KCRM ID
SUBJECT: REVISED DRAFT CRIMINAL CODE WORRIES ACTIVISTS

REF: JAKARTA 07584

Classified By: AMBASSADOR B. LYNN PASCOE, REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Legal analysts and NGOs told us that the
latest draft of the revised Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP)
continues to include controversial provisions on the
protection of government officials and state ideology from
defamation, and the criminalization of pornography. They
feared that these provisions could be used to suppress
freedom of expression and to impose "public morality." NGO
activists said that the President and the Ministry of Law had
not changed these provisions, despite intensive lobbying
efforts by human rights activists. Observers - including Law
Ministry officials - expect the KUHP to languish in
parliament (DPR) for two to three years as legislators debate
the code's more controversial provisions, giving us a window
of opportunity to influence KUHP's final form. End Summary.

CONTROVERSIAL SECTIONS REMAIN UNCHANGED
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2. (C) Bivitri Susanti, Executive Director, Center for
Indonesian Law and Policy Studies, asserted that, despite
several meetings between NGOs and the Law Ministry,
government officials had not incorporated civil society's
feedback on the KUHP, which remained virtually unchanged from
last year's version (reftel). Describing Indonesian civil
society's main concerns as "the defamation section which
could be used to enhance government power at the expense of
society or the press, the attempts to prescribe morality
using anti-pornography, and the death penalty itself", she
anticipated that the KUHP would pass from the President's
office to parliament without any substantive revisions (note:
some Indonesian NGOs oppose the death penalty and believe it
should be eliminated by the new KUHP). However Susanti
believed that the bill would incite "chaotic debate" in the
parliament and languish there for at least two to three
years. She noted that this gave civil society, as well as
interested foreign governments, a chance to influence the
final shape of the code. In this context, Susanti encouraged
us to "fund a seminar" on the criminal code and to invite
"key legislators, civil society activists and government
officials to this conference."

KUHP MAY ENGENDER MUCH DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT
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3. (C) Mardjono Reksodiputro, Secretary, National Law
Commission and a former member of the committee that drafted
the KUHP said that the President Yudhoyono and "certain key
advisors" remained deeply uncomfortable with provisions of
the KUHP related to criminalizing pornography, as this
represented "legislating morality." However he asserted that
the President had few reservations about other sections of
the code deemed controversial by NGOs and the media - those
related to defamation of government officials and state
ideology, and the continuation of the death penalty.
Mardjono said that the President would not make changes to
the bill - including to the pornography provisions - because
"the President lacked the courage and political capital to
eliminate the provisions he found disturbing." Mardjono
predicted the President would submit the bill to the DPR this
year and said legislators would debate it for many years. He
agreed that this gave Western governments an important chance
to influence the bill.

ANTI-PORN WILL PROVOKE DEBATE
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4. (C) Justrida Tara, Director of Criminal Law, Ministry of
Law and Human Rights, told us that President Yudhoyono had
recently given feedback to the Law Ministry on the KUHP - the
latest chapter in the decade long saga to modify the code
(reftel). Though she was unwilling to reveal the precise
nature of his comments, Justrida asserted that the President
had not found the bill's provisions on defamation,
anti-pornography, or the continued imposition of the death
penalty, controversial. She anticipated that the President
would present the bill to parliament (DPR) by the end of the
year. Justrida expected little debate in the DPR on the
provisions that have drawn much media and NGO attention
recently - those related to defamation of the government and
imposition of the death penalty - but admitted that the
KUHP's anti-pornography sections had the potential to provoke
serious and protracted debate among legislators. Justrida
estimated that the revised criminal code would be passed by
the DPR by a distant 2009.

AWALUDIN CLAIMS PARTS OF KUHP STILL SENSITIVE
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5. (C) In a meeting with Ambassador Pascoe on September 8,

JAKARTA 00012607 002 OF 002


Law Minister Hamid Awaludin said that the President had found
several provisions of the KUHP "sensitive", especially those
that protected government officers from defamation,
criminalized pornography, and which continued to impose the
death penalty for certain crimes. Awaludin evaded answering
the Ambassador's questions on the KUHP's provision on insults
to religion and its implication for free speech. When
pressed about the potential for government misuse of
provisions related to slander and defamation to suppress
freedom of the press, Awaludin denied this possibility.


6. (C) Comment: The much anticipated final draft of the
criminal code remains deeply contentious among NGOs for its
provisions on defamation, anti-pornography, and continuation
of the death penalty. Observers expect the bill to languish
in the DPR for many years. We should take advantage of this
substantial window of opportunity, to cooperate with NGOs to
influence the defamation and anti-pornography sections of the
bill. End Comment.




PASCOE