The Ministry of Law and Human Rights has held 11 socialization activities for the Criminal Code Bill (RKUHP) and were Monday, June 14, 2021, to socialize the RKUHP in Jakarta. In response to this activity, the National Alliance for Criminal Code Reformation’s notes are as follows:

First, in this event, the Alliance did not see any change in the composition of the speakers. The government still did not involve civil society or academics from different fields of knowledge and perspectives to provide input on the RKUHP balanced with the government and the House of Representatives (DPR). This discussion event is more about one-way socialization than a discussion of the more urgent substance to be carried out so that the RKUHP will no longer get a rejection from the public.

It is known that several members of the National Alliance for Criminal Code Reformation were invited to socialize on June 14, 2021. However, they only had one hour to give inputs. It was not balanced with the substance of the material, which involved six speakers from the government formulation team and the House of Representatives with an allocation of three hours. Another thing is that not all civil society groups who are potentially affected are invited by the government, from groups of people with disabilities, reproductive health advocacy groups, vulnerable groups, etc.

Second, the unclear process and discussion of the RKUHP. Both the government and the House of Representatives did not clearly state whether the draft circulated at the socialization event in Manado (11th socialization before Jakarta) was the latest draft or just the socialization of the previous draft rejected by the public in September 2019. If this is the latest draft, the Alliance did not see the slightest change in the draft, and it was still the same as the draft that was circulated was still the September 2019 version that the public rejected. The public needed to know the process of reviewing and updating the RKUHP for almost two years after the September 2019 rejection. If there is no change, then this socialization is not listening to public input after the rejection of the September 2019 RKUHP, which even claimed lives, and the President’s statement appeared to postpone and review the RKUHP.

The National Alliance for Criminal Code Reformation supports efforts to reform the Criminal Code, and we are also in line with the House of Representatives and the government. They want to create a new Criminal Code far from the colonial version, a new Criminal Code that is modern and following the 1945 Constitution. For this reason, the government and the House of Representatives need to be reminded again that the basis for delaying the RKUHP is substantial, related to the content of the RKUHP. The President himself stated this. Hence, the RKUHP needs to be discussed substantially with the transparency of the government and the House of Representatives. Either for changes to the formulation, the abolition of articles or, even correction of the discussion pattern should be more inclusive, involving experts, not only criminal law experts. If the government and the House of Representatives still neglect this issue, it seems that the public’s resistance will be difficult to contain.

Jakarta June 14, 2021

Sincerely,

The National Alliance for Criminal Code Reformation

ICJR, ELSAM, AJI, LBH Pers, Imparsial, KontraS, ICW, HuMA, PBHI, LeIP, LBH Jakarta, PKBI, PSHK, Arus Pelangi, HRWG, YLBHI, SEJUK, LBH APIK, LBH Masyarakat, MaPPI FHUI, CDS, ILR, ICEL, Rumah Cemara, WALHI, Jatam, YPHA, Ecpat Indonesia, ILRC, Epistema Institute, Yayasan Kesehatan Perempuan, Aliansi Satu Visi, PKNI, PUSKAPA, AMAN Indonesia, AMAN Perempuan, Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia, JKP3, OPSI, Pusat Kajian Gender dan Seks UI, Institut Perempuan, Lintas Feminis Jakarta, Yayasan Peduli Sindroma Down Indonesia, Pusham UII, OHANA, SEHATI Sukoharjo, Green Peace Indonesia, SAFEnet, IJRS, Pamflet