Indonesia bans sex outside wedlock

As part of a series of reforms that critics claim endanger the human rights and freedoms in the Southeast Asian nation, Indonesia's legislature unanimously approved a comprehensive new criminal code on Tuesday that criminalizes sex outside of marriage.

Cohabitation before marriage and apostasy are prohibited by the new code, which also applies to foreign residents and visitors. It also imposes penalties for insulting the president or expressing opinions that are incompatible with the dominant ideology.

"All have agreed to ratify the (draft changes) into law," said lawmaker Bambang Wuryanto, who led the parliamentary commission in charge of revising the colonial-era code. "The old code belongs to Dutch heritage ... and is no longer relevant."

In some areas of the country, such as the semi-autonomous Aceh province where alcohol and gambling are prohibited, strict Islamic regulations are already in effect. In the area, public floggings are also practised for a variety of sins, such as adultery and homosexuality.

Not only have the revisions to the penal code disturbed proponents of human rights who feared that they could strangle individual freedoms, but also representatives of the travel sector who were concerned about how they might affect tourism.

Yasonna Laoly, the minister of law and human rights, said during a news conference on Tuesday that creating a criminal code that "accommodates all interests" was difficult in a multicultural and multiethnic nation.

He expressed the expectation that Indonesians would recognize that parliamentarians had made every effort to meet "public aspiration" and asked those who were not satisfied to request a judicial review from the constitutional court.

Prior to the voting on Tuesday, rights organizations and detractors warned that the new code will "disproportionately damage women" and severely restrict freedoms and human rights in the nation of over 270 million people.

"What we're witnessing is a huge setback to Indonesia's hard-won progress in protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms after the 1998 revolution. This criminal code should have never been passed in the first place," said Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia.

Source