Situation during visit
Information on steps taken since the visit
Indonesia’s domestic legal norms did not
contain a definition of torture which was in
line with the Convention of Torture;
Non-governmental sources: There is no legal provision
containing a definition and prohibition of torture in line
with the United Nations Convention against Torture
(UNCAT). The draft bill to rectify these shortcomings is
still pending. Similarly, no amendments have been made
with regard to introducing penalties which would be
commensurate to the gravity of the crime. Komnas HAM
(the National Human Rights Commission) can take up
individual complaints; however, it is only mandated to
formulate recommendations.
(A/HRC/7/3/Add.7, para. 72-92).
Impunity
73. Torture should be defined and criminalized
as a matter of priority and as a concrete
demonstration of Indonesia’s commitment to
combat the problem, in accordance with
articles 1 and 4 of the Convention against
Torture, with penalties commensurate with the
gravity of torture.
Indonesia’s Criminal Code referred only to
“maltreatment”, which lacked several elements
of the torture definition, such as the elements
of purpose, mental pain or suffering, and
agency. Draft bills to rectify these
shortcomings had been considered for several
years without being adopted;
The Criminal Code outlawing inter alia the
extraction of a confession stipulated a
maximum imprisonment of only four years;
Law 39/1999 on Human Rights referred to the
prohibition of torture, however lacks an
effective mechanism for dealing with
individual complaints since it was restricted to
cases perpetrated as part of “a broad and
systematic attack against civilians”.
74. The declaration should be made with
respect to article 22 of the Convention
recognizing the competence of the Committee
against Torture to receive and consider
communications from individuals who claim
to be victims of a violation of the provisions of
the Convention.
Indonesia had not made a declaration under
article 22 UNCAT.
Non-governmental sources: No declaration has been
made under article 22.
75. The Government should ensure that
corporal punishment, independently of the
physical suffering it causes, is explicitly
Sharia law, incorporated into the 2005 Aceh
Criminal Code, provided for flogging and
affected disproportionally women;
Non-governmental sources: In September 2009 the
Aceh Legislative Council adopted a new Islamic
Criminal Legal Code which imposes severe sentences
for consensual extra-marital sexual relations, rape,
A/HRC/13/39/Add.6
78
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