The Dirty Judges

The concept of Rule of Law is adopted by most democratic countries of the world, emphasizing on the upholding on of the following basic principles :
-  Supremacy of Law
-  Equality before the Law
-  Human Rights protection

As a consequence, Judges of the Courts of Law must consists of high quality people who uphold the above principles and morality so that they can make wise and fair decisions/verdicts.

Considering the above, I was very upset when I read on the news media that in the first three months of 2012 (January - March) , 28 Judges have been punished by the Supreme Court. And this number is growing bigger as time goes by, the latest one being the Head of South Sumatera High Court M. Daming Sunusi who thinks that Rape is an act of fun enjoyed by the Rapist and the Victim.

What make me more upset is the opinion of former Chief of the Constitutional Court Jimly Assiddiquie that Daming should not be severely punished because what said was just a slip of the tongue not intentionally.
Hmmm ..... as the Head of a High Court with 24 years experience as Judge, Daming has no right to talk that way about Rape to anybody especially to members of the People's Consultative Council.

We can only hope that the Supreme Court would do its best to make sure that the Judges are doing their job properly so that Indonesia would be a lot much better place to live in.

Picture :  Courtesy of Bestuff.

Are We Serious in Fighting Illegal Drugs ?

I always think that the circulation of Illegal Drugs in Indonesia has reached a very dangerous level, that our country has been dubbed by some news media as a haven for illegal drugs.

Those who have members of families and/or friends who are Drug Addicts/Junkies would know for sure that they would would do anything to satisfy their needs for illegal drugs, including lie, steal or even kill.

For that reason I always hope that the Courts of Justice in Indonesia would pass heavy punishments to anyone involved in the trade of illegal drugs as stipulated  by the Anti Narcotics Law No 22/1997 Article 80 i.e maximum Death Sentence, and the Anti Psychoactive Drugs Law No. 5/1997 Article 60 i.e maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison. Please read here for details.

Unfortunately, the facts show that the above laws have not been implemented properly. Those who were involved in Illegal Drug trades have been punished lighter than they supposed to be.

For example, last Friday President Susilo Yudoyono (SBY) granted Clemency to an Indonesian drug trafficker that has been sentenced to death by the District Court of Tangerang, Banten, the High Court and the Supreme Court. And last May, President SBY trimmed five years off Australian drug convict Schapelle Corby's 2 years prison sentence. Please read here for details.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court revoked the punishment of an Illegal Drug Lord i.e. Hengky Gunawan, from Death Sentence into a 15 years Prison Sentence. Please read here for details.

The saddest thing is that the above lightening of punishments were done based on the reason to upheld human rights of those Drug Traders/Dealers. I wonder whether the human rights of the Drug Addicts/Junkies and their families and friends have been forgotten.

Trapped in a Secret Love

Last month, I met an old friend of mine i.e. Joni Junaidi (54), at the Pan d'Or Restaurant in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

I first met Joni more than 30 years ago when we were both studying at the Trisakti University in West Jakarta, where I studied Law and Joni studied Accounting. Since then we became close friends.

Upon graduation, Joni worked as an accountant with a Jakarta based multinational oil and gas company for 30 years. He lived with his wife Aisha (52) whom he had married for 26 years, and a couple of wonderful children Josie (25) and Jennny (23) at a nice home in South Jakarta.

All of this time, I always thought that Joni's family is one of those model happy family whereby Joni is an ideal husband/father and Aisha as an ideal wife/mother.

For that reason, I was very surprised when Joni told me that he want to talk about a problem related to his family life.

Joni revealed that for the last four years he has been having a secret affair with Rosa (49), his old girlfriend whom he broke up one year before he married Aisha.
Rosa is married to Eddy with no children and unhappy because Eddy is an alcoholic and often beat her brutally when he gets drunk. For that reason, she has filed a Divorce Lawsuit with the Religious Court of South Jakarta.

The problem for Joni is that Rosa asked him to marry her soon after her divorce lawsuit has been granted by the Religious Court.

In this connection, I told Joni that according to the Indonesian Criminal Law, he and Rosa can be regarded as having committed the Crime of Adultery. Article 284 of the said Law stipulated that Adultery is sexual intercourse between a married man and a woman (married or unmarried) which is punishable by the Court to a maximum penalty of 9 months in Jail, provided that their spouse file a complaint with the local Police.

I advised Joni to end his love affair with Rosa, and Joni said that he already talked to Rosa about that possibility but she refused by saying that she agreed to have sexual intercourse because Joni has promised to marry her. Rosa even threatened that she would reveal their love affair to Joni's i.e wife Aisha if Joni ever leave her.

I urged Joni to try his very best to persuade Rosa not to reveal their love affair to Aisha because it would make both of them end up in Jail.

Note:   I have changed the names of all the persons, time and places.

Housing for the Poor

 

The Indonesian Constitution stipulated that every citizen is entitled, among others, to live in a decent housing.

In order to implement this stipulation, since the 1970's the government has given subsidy for the development of houses with minimum building area of 21 square meters specially for low income citizens.

However, after 2011 low income citizens cannot buy such kind of houses anymore, because the Housing Law No. 1/2011 does not allow the building of such kind of houses anymore.

According to Kompas, Article 22(3) of the said Law stipulated that the floor area of houses should at least be 36 sq. meters. 

As a consequence, the government could not provide financial subsidy, therefore banks would not provide soft housing loans for buyers of houses with area less than 36 sq.meters.

The Minister of People's Housing Djan Faridz was quoted as saying that this Law will not inflict financial losses to the people. He said that the Law does not contradict with Article 28(1) of the Constitution. And based on the Indonesian National Standard for City Housings, the minimum building area is 9.6 sq.m for an Adult and 4.8 sq.m for a Child. So, the minimum total building area for a family would be 36 sq. meters.

The Minister also said that the Law is in accordance with Art. 2 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) which has been ratified by Law No. 11/2005, and United Nations Charter on Human Rights Art. 25 (1) regarding the Rights to Adequate Housing.

However, the Association of Indonesian Housings Developers said that the Law will make it impossible for low income citizens who earn less than Rp. 2.5 Million/month to own houses. Considering this fact, the Association has requested the Constitutional Court to Review Art. 22 (3) of the Law.

As the price of land is increasing, it would be very difficult for lower income citizens, which happen to be the majority of people, to buy houses. Therefore, I hope that the Constitutional Court would review the said Law.


Photo: Courtesy of Shutterstock

From Migrant Worker to Lecturer

For many decades, we have read and heard so many tragic stories about the faith of Indonesian Migrant Workers in foreign countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.

All that has been caused by very poor protection provided by the Indonesian government and its representatives a.k.a embassies and consulates in countries where the Migrant Workers lived.

For example, when a Migrant Worker come to work in Saudi Arabia, they should give their passports to their bosses, and not allowed to keep phone numbers and addresses of our embassy and consulate, therefore they cannot do anything if something went wrong to them.

For that reasons, many of our Migrant Workers were victimized i.e. humiliated, raped, tortured, or even killed by their bosses. Some of them were sentenced to death on allegations of murdering their bosses.

Due to above, I was surprised when I saw on Trans-7 TV this morning, story about Nuryati Solapari (click here), a 32 years old Migrant Worker from Serang, Banten, who worked in Saudi Arabia after finishing High School, in order to be able to save to study at a university.

Before she left for the town of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia in 1998, the migrant worker recruitment agency did not provide her with any training, but they gave her a training certificate so as to obey regulations.
She therefore has to learn about her work and about local culture and tradition from fellow Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

And for her personal security, she wrote important things like passport number, phone and address of the Indonesian embassy/consulate in Saudi Arabia, not in an ordinary way but by knitting them on her pasmina/ scarf so that her boss would not find out about them.

After two years and eight months, she came home and studied at the Faculty of Law of the University Sultan Agung Tirtayasa in Serang, where she graduated in only three and a half years (click here). Afterwards, she got her Master in law degree.

Currently Nuryati is working as a Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the above mentioned university. Beside that, she also has a license to practice as an Advocate/lawyer.

Nuryati frequently gave motivations and shared her experiences with candidate Migrant Workers, and because of that she has received the Indonesian Migrant Workers Award in 2010, and award from the government of Saudi Arabia.

I hope that other Indonesian Migrant Workers would follow Nuryati's above mentioned steps, and the Indonesian government would strictly control the training and dispatch of Migrant Workers abroad, and request the government of said foreign countries to provide much better protection for them

Photo :  Courtesy of Era Muslim.

A Distrust Society

Almost every day we saw on television, heard on the radio, and read in the news paper about so many people getting easily angered and staged violence in public places, although only triggered by trivial matters.

They show their anger in many ways, such as the emergence of motorcycle gang after the murder of a Naval officer, clashes between member of the Army and the Police in Gorontalo, and an Army Captain acting arrogantly against a civilian in Jakarta.

Kompas wrote that aggressive behavior is a result of pressure due to various uncertainties in our country, ranging from Legal, Social, Politic, Economic, and even Religion.

Muji Sutrisno, a lecturer at the Dyarkara Philosophy School in Jakarta, was quoted as saying that today's society is losing a good role model. Figures or institutions that are expected to set an example and wisdom, it turns out most of them become part of the problem. It's hard to find someone who can be trusted.                    

He went on to say that such society can be called a Distrust Society i.e a Society that losses trust. If this goes on and on, our nation may loss Morality, Ethics and Wisdom.

Considering the above, I hope that all our politicians would always think and act as patrons for our society i.e. by upholding national unity based on our Constitutions, Laws, Pancasila and Traditions. And most of all, the laws must be enforced properly.

Freedom Vs. Security

After nine months of debates and discussions with top government officials, last Tuesday the House of Representatives finally decided to accept the Intelligence Bill.

According to the news media the House's said decision was protested by some human rights and liberal democratic activists, who said that the new Intelligence Law would endanger democracy in general, and limit freedom of expression in particular.

One of the things they objected is the right to wiretap phone calls, which they thought might be abused by the intelligence agencies especially the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Due to this fact,  activists groups like the Indonesian Corruption Watch, Legal Aid Foundation, Kontras, Impartial, Elsam and other NGO planned to request the Constitutional Court to conduct a Judicial Review on Articles 25 and 26 of the said Law regarding Secret Intelligence Information including the criteria of State Security and Defense, Natural Treasure, National Economic Resilience, and Foreign Policy Interest.

As a lover of democracy, I felt that the new Intelligence Law would surely limit people's freedom therefore its implementations should be closely observe by the society so as to avoid any abuse of power.

However, as a peace loving citizen, I believe that our country, which still has so many poor people, can only develop properly if peace and order exist, if there is no acts of terrors, violence and bombings. And that can only be achieved if there is strong law enforcement that is balanced with citizen's freedom to think, speak and act on whatever is good for the people and country.

Considering the above, I felt that as long as the implementation is according to the laws and regulations, it is okay to give certain power to the intelligence agency. For example said Law ruled that wire taping can only be done if there is permit from the Court of Law.

 

Giving Charity on the Streets

The municipality government of Jakarta has been trying for many years to get rid of Beggars, Tramps, Car wipers from the streets of the city, with little success.

For which purpose, By-Law (Perda) No 7/2008 regarding Public Order was issued in 2008, but it does not seem to be effective.

According to Berita Jakarta, the Jakarta municipality government will be serious in enforcing the By-Law in two stages.       

First, a Socialization period from 20 July (yesterday) until 15 August in which violators will get light sanction. 

After that, there will be an enforcement period from 16 August until 29 August, in which violators will be sent directly to social institution and will not be released until Ied Ul Fitr. So, they will celebrate Ied Ul FItr in Social Institution.

Frankly speaking, I think that this effort would work during the above enforcement period, however I am not sure how will it be in the future.

As long as those Beggars, Tramps etc. are still available on the streets, and no serious efforts to prevent them from doing so,  it would be very difficult to expect that the By-Law will be effective.

iPad, Corruption, Singapore

The producer of iPad is now very lucky because the mass media in Indonesia has been reporting intensively about the tablet computer in the last few days, therefore giving it a free advertisement.

It all started in 2010 when iPad started to enter the Indonesian market from other countries, especially Singapore, through unofficial channels and sold in in the black market.

In spite of the lack of import and sales permits, iPad became popular very quickly and many people want to buy it although illegally. This has attracted the Police to carry out investigation on the people who sold them.

A Police officer disguised as a buyer contacted two vendors, namely Dian Yudha Negara (42) and Randy Lester Samu (29) who advertised the sales of iPad 3G WiFi 64 GB on the local online social media Kaskus and bought two iPads on 23 November 2010.

The iPads were not equipped with certification and manual written in the Indonesian language, so  the Police arrested them and charged them with violating Law No. 8 Regarding the Protection of Consumers, Law No. 36 Regarding Telecommunication, and Regulation of the Minister of Trade regarding electronic products that can be imported. Both of them could face a maximum prison sentence of up to five years.

Dian and Randy then told the Police that they bought the iPads while they were traveling to Singapore, but they cannot show evidence to support this, such as passport and airline ticket.

Now they both are facing trial at the District Court of Central Jakarta. Luckily during the trial today the judges released both of them from detention.

Dian and Randy may have violated the Laws and therefore they may be eligible to face the Court trial they are facing now.

What really surprised me was the very quick action of the law enforcement agencies against both of them, which was very different from the very slow actions against people who have been suspected of Corruption/ Bribery such as Nazaruddin and Nunun Nurbaety which enabled them to runaway to Singapore.

What's Wrong with the Constitutional Court ?

I used to think that the Constitutional Court is the only state institution that can be relied by the people of Indonesia today.

The Court has made several breakthrough on legal matters which other law institutions in the country seems to be helpless, such as public broadcasting of secret phone conversations between Anggodo Widjojo, who was alleged of bribery and certain high ranking officials of the law enforcement agencies.

Many people have high hopes, that some of them want the Court's Chief i.e. Mahfud MD to run as candidate in the 2014 Presidential election.
 
Lately, the mass media reported about the falsification of a letter issued by the Constitutional Court regarding who's eligible to represent a region in South Sulawesi at the House of Representatives

The Chief of the Constitutional Court Mahfud MD alleged that the former member of the General Elections Committee  i.e. Andi Nurpati, currently Spokesperson of President SBY's ruling Democrat Party was involved in the said falsification. He also alleged that former Judge of the said Court i.e. Arsyad Sanusi was also involved in this case.

These allegations were denied by Andi Nurpati, her Party, and Arsyad Sanusi.

Arsyad even strike back by saying the this case is caused by the disorder in the administration of the Court, caused by Mahfud's lack of experience in working with the Court.

Meanwhile, The Jakarta Globe reported that on 21 June the House of Representatives has amended the Constitutional Court Law No. 24/2003 (here) that will significantly curtail the Court's authorities, including a restriction on issuing verdicts beyond what has been requested of it.

The Jakarta Post reported that the Court should limit its verdicts to declaring whether laws or articles ran counter to the Constitution, he added, and refrain from recommending alternative legislation.  It's Chief and Deputy Chief's office term would be reduced to two years and six months, from three years. And it's Judges must have an undergraduate degree in Law.

I hope that this case would be investigated thoroughly and those responsible to be processed in Court, so that the image of the Constitutional Court can still be maintained.

The Currency Law

On  31 May 2011, the House of Representatives has enacted the Currency Law.

According to Hukum Online, this Law's Article 21 (1) stipulated that business transactions carried out within the territory of the Republic of Indonesia should use the Rupiah currency. And Article 33 stipulated that violation of this Law would be a Crime that can be punished with a maximum fine of Rp 200 Million, or one year imprisonment.

However, Article 21(2) stipulated that the obligation to use Rupiah does not apply to transactions within the framework of the implementation of state budget revenues and expenditures, receipts or grants from or to foreign countries; international trade transactions; deposits in banks in the form of foreign exchange, or transactions international payments.

Some Lawyers have protested against this new Law, saying that the Lawyer profession has a trans-border scope of activities therefore it is very likely they would use foreign currency. 

According to Infobanknews  this Law will be valid starting 17 August 2014.

Considering that we still have more than two years before the new Law becomes valid, any businesses that used foreign currencies, including Lawyers etc, should prepare adapting themselves with this new Law. 

Protection of Traditional Markets in Jakarta

The rapid growth of modern Supermarkets and Mini-markets in Jakarta have been protested by the owners of traditional markets and small shops who feared that those modern markets would endanger their businesses.

In order to provide better protection for the Traditional market, the  Governor of Jakarta Fauzi Bowo last Wednesday submitted a draft of revision of By-law No. 2/2002 regarding Markets to the Jakarta House of Representatives.

According to Berita Jakarta, the revision was actually planned in 2006, but postponed because waiting for the President Regulation No 112/2007 about Modern Shop and Traditional Market Management, and the Trade Minister Regulation No 53/M-DAG/Per/12/2008 about Modern Shop and Traditional Market Management.

Pos Kota reported that the draft By-Law stipulated that Mini Markets with a building area of 200 square meters should be located at least 400 square meters away from a Traditional market.

While Supermarkets with a building area of 2,000 square meters should be located around 2 Kilometers away from a Traditional market.

I hope that the draft of the revision of By-Law will be accepted soon, so that the owners of traditional markets and small shops would not be worried anymore.  

Photo: Courtesy of Berita Jakarta.

Online Etiquette

Few days ago, I read a blog post of a blogger which joked about a public officer using impolite words.

The next day, the blogger received a comment from another blogger who was annoyed by said post saying that he cannot insult a public officer whom he has voted in the election.

This story reminds me about a similar story that I have read on The Jakarta Post (below).

As a believer in democracy, I am very happy that internet activists in Indonesia are now able to write about many things they want to share with others. However, as a part of a society we must not forget that we also have a responsibility to maintain harmony and tranquility in our society, therefore we should always consider the laws, regulations and etiquette in Indonesia.

Teacher faces charges for Facebook criticism

Wed, 06/10/2009 1:02 PM | National

JAKARTA: Another citizen is facing libel charges, for posting criticism on popular online social network Facebook, in the wake of public outcry over the controversial detention of a housewife in Tangerang for sharing her complaint about hospital services online. 

Indra Sutriafi Pipil, a teacher at a state vocational school in the North Sulawesi city of Kotamubagu, told Antara news agency Tuesday he was also facing dismissal for allegedly defaming Mayor Djelantik Mokodompit.

In his Facebook account, Indra mentioned rampant "corruption of work hours" in the municipality administration office.

Kotamubagu police post chief First Insp. Muhammad Monoarfa said he had received a report filed by municipality administration and handed over the case to the local prosecutor's office.

Reports said Tangerang housewife Prita Mulyasari, Indra would likely be charged under the 2008 Information and Electronic Transaction Law, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in jail.

Regional administration secretary Muhamad Mokoginta admitted the libel lawsuit had been filed against Indra, saying the teacher had discredited the administration. 

"We reported the case to the law enforcers last month." - JP

Photo: Courtesy of Photo Search.

Guest Writer: Rob Baiton

When I started this blog on October 2007, my intention was to write about matters related to the laws in Indonesia.

But considering the "very complicated characteristics" of the implementation of laws in Indonesia, after some time I get bored with disappointment. In order to keep on blogging, I write about other matters i.e. Politics and Nature in Indonesia.

One of the blogger who inspired me to keep on writing is Rob Baiton, who at that time lived in Jakarta and worked as English Editor of the Indonesian legal website: www.hukumonline.com. Besides, he has also mentored and lead Indonesian law students compete in international Law Speech Contests.

I learned a lot from Rob's blog i.e. therabexperience.blogspot.com, which muse about the Laws, Politics, Culture in Indonesia and Australia.

Today Rob is living in Sydney, Australia, with his Indonesian wife and a handsome young son.

Please find below one of Rob's latest post about a case which has been highly exposed by the Indonesian media for the last couple of weeks.

Ariel, Luna Maya, + Cut Tari ...

Indonesia and porn, porn and Indonesia seem to go hand-in-hand, don't they? It never ceases to amaze me the level of hypocrisy that exists on this single issue. There are those jumping up and down waving the morality flag demanding that long jail sentences be handed down to people who find the need to film themselves doing the deed and then have this very deed find its way into the public domain. Yet, most surveys and other statistical data pegs Indonesia as one of the biggest consumers of porn on our little globe called earth.

I think Desi Anwar says it best in her opinion piece on the matter when she talks about moral censure, peeping toms and playing god. It is worth a read and you can find it here.

The realities here are that it is against the law, people know it is against the law, and they must certainly know that if they get caught then there is a pretty good chance that the relevant law enforcement agencies will go the whole nine yards to get a conviction. This seems particularly so if you happen to be a celebrity. Ariel, Luna Maya, and Cut Tari are going to find this out in the most public of ways. One arrest has been made and another two seem imminent. The Porn Law and the Criminal Code are destined to get a work out on this one.

It really is sad that this is being played out in the way that it is. There are just so many more important things that politicians could be doing rather than legislating morality. There is in a similar vein so many more important things that the police and other law enforcement agencies could be dealing with rather than a couple of starlets getting the once over by a singer who seems to be afflicted with a little bit of the "Don Juanism" condition.

However, it must be noted that none of this is surprising on any front. All of us who are either Indonesian or who have long associations with the place understand that Indonesians have an insatiable appetite for gossip, particularly celebrity gossip. Indonesian TV is testament to that. We also know that the politicians and law enforcement people often look for any good gossip in order to deflect attention from real issues that need real work and real responses to see them resolved.

Yes, the reality here is that you have a couple of sex videos, pretty tame by most accounts, and nothing to write home about. Yet, it is news that has diverted the attention of a nation, and seen the story picked up by the international press. On the importance scale, the size of Ariel's penis, his sexual prowess, or the preferred methods associated with any climax activity, ranks, at least in my opinion, a very distant last on a long line of really important issues such as the systematic attempts to dissolve the KPK from its current form, the failure of parliament to speed up the legislative process, or myriad of other issues. Then again, I am sure that it will not be too long before we are hearing that Ariel's escapades have directly contributed to an earthquake or a tsunami or some other natural disaster that befalls the innocent in Indonesia. Sad!

As a matter of priority, it is time that people thought about the things that are really important and worked towards resolutions on those fronts.

Then again, good gossip and a sex video is something that most people just need to talk about!

Empowerment of the Blasphemy Law

Today, the Constitutional Court has rejected the request for judicial review on the Blasphemy Law No. 1 PNPS/1965 filed by several non government organizations including the Legal Aid Foundation, and several prominent citizens including the late former President Abdurrahman Wahid.

The request itself was aimed at five stipulations of the Law which are regarded as against the Constitution and Discriminative toward followers of minority religions, i.e Articles 1, Article 2 Par.1 and Par.2, Article 3 and Article 4.

The Court's judges headed by its chief Mahfud MD explained that the Law is not against the Constitution, it is not a threat to Religious Freedom,  it is not Discriminative and it has no potential to Criminalize followers of minority Religions.

For detailed media reports (in Bahasa Indonesia), please click here, here, here and here.

In my humble opinion, religion is a personal matter of every citizens, therefore State intervention should be limited. However, now that the Constitutional Court has made its decision to empower the Blasphemy Law, we must respect and obey the said Law. That way, we can focus our attention on other matters which are important for the country and people of Indonesia i.e. eradicating corruption and poverty.

MUI Rejected Body Scanners

The Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) has rejected the plan to use of Body Scanners on passengers at the airports because it is against the Islamic laws and human rights.

Please find below a related article in The Jakarta Globe for reference.

 An airport staff member demonstrating a full body scan in progress at Britain’s Manchester Airport. (AFP Photo)

MUI Says Airport Body Scanners Would Violate Human Rights

The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) had rejected a plan to use full body scanners in Indonesian airports, claiming it would be a violation of Sharia law and human rights.

“Don’t use it in Indonesia. We are not a paranoid or frightened country, What we are afraid of is the scanner violating human rights and being used as a toy to abuse women,” Amidhan, the council’s chairman, told detik.com.

The council agreed with Pope Benedict’s objections to full body scanners.

“It violates human rights. If only the bones are visible then it’s all right but if it’s the body then it could become a toy,” Amidhan said.

The MUI said that there would be one exception, however.

“It could only be used in emergency situations regarding national security and women should scan women and men scan men,” he said.

Amidhan said that he believed Indonesia was not in an emergency situation at the moment and airport security staff could still make use of other tools.

“As long as other equipment is available, it’s not an emergency,” he said.

The government planned to use ProVision scanner made in USA. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said the scanner would not show individual’s “sensitive parts.” At present, ProVision scanners are on trial in Canadian and French airports, while in Indonesia, the device would be used for passengers heading to the United States.

The SIRI Marriage

A legitimate Marriage in Indonesia is conducted according to the religion of the couple concerned,   and registered according to the national law.

Basically, a man can only have one wife, and a woman can only have one husband.
However, a man can request the Court of Law to allow him to marry more than one woman, if his existing wife gave her approval.

In spite of the above stipulations of the Marriage Law No. 1/1974, some Muslim men have married women based on the Islamic Law but do not register the marriage with with the marriage registrar office. Such kind of marriage is called the SIRI marriage.

According to Kompas, women activists have protested against SIRI marriage because it does not provide legal protection to women. They proposed that men who practiced SIRI Marriage should be treated as criminals, and punnished by the Court of Law. This proposal was supported by the Chief of the Supreme Court Harifin A. Tumpa, and the Chief of the Constitutional Court Mahfud MD.

Considering the above, I hope that the law enforcement agencies would make more serious efforts to prevent the SIRI Marriage.

Photo : Courtesy of Kompas

The Outgoing DPR

The members of the national parliament (DPR) are racing against time as their five years office term is about to end on October. Maybe that's why they are so eager to end it that they wanted to pass as much law bills as possible.

But the strange thing is that only less than one third of the 550 members of DPR attended the plenary sessions, while the others were absent for unknown reason.

Last week, less than 100 members attended the plenary session that passed the Environment Management & Protection and the Film bills.
Last Monday, only 180 members attended the session that passed four bills into laws i.e Anti-Narcotics, Health, Haj and Immigration bills.
And on Wednesday similar number of members attended the plenary session that passed the Value Added Tax & Sales Tax bill into law.
But unfortunately, the DPR has not been so eager to finalize discussion with the government about the amendment of the Corruption Crime bill that they have to pospone the discussion to a later date. So is the discussion about the Secrecy bill.

Many critics said that those bills were not prepared properly therefore the quality of the laws are questionable. Due to which fact, when they become laws, most most likely the would be subject to Judicial Review.
They criticized the Anti-Narcotics bill which classify Drug Users as crimminals that should be punnished, while according to doctors drug addiction is a curable disease.
They critisized the Health bill which only stipulate the maximum but no minimum punnishment for Hospitals and their doctors who were proved to have caused injury to a patient.
The Haj bill is merely to comply with the regulation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that Haj pilgrims should have special passport.
The Immigration bill includes measures to curb illegal immigration, terrorism, money laundering and people trafficking, and makes “fake marriages” to obtain Indonesian citizenship a crime.
While the Tax bill changed the Value Added Tax from a fixed 10% to 5 into 15%.

For details on the above, please click here, here, here and here.

Considering the above facts, I hope that they are not as bad as described by the critics, in this case I will have to keep my fingers crossed!


Photo : Courtesy of DPR

Moral Transcendence

Author: Anastasia F-B, a young lady who is studying History in London.
Blog: http://anatheimp.blogspot.com

This is an answer I gave in a debate on the question of moral transcendence.

OK, I’m going to strip this right back, just to uncover some of the assumptions behind my argument that ethics and simple morality are based on transcendent values whereas laws are based on power. I’m not sidestepping your examples, though whether Genghis Khan led a ‘good life’ or a ‘moral life’ is clearly open to question, as, indeed, is that of Gandhi, inasmuch as he pursued political goals which, albeit unintended, had seriously adverse consequences.

Please note I said that ethics were transcendent, meaning they go beyond history and circumstances, not that they were based on a ‘higher law’, which is something quite different. Also there are values that are shared across cultures and traditions; all of the main religions, from Judaism to Buddhism, contain certain core principles governing inter-personal conduct.

Yes, there are societies where killing may indeed have been perceived as a virtue, just as there were societies where cannibalism and head-hunting were also ‘virtuous’, if that word has any meaning in this context. Let me make it clear that ethics, in the complex philosophical sense, and morality, in the simple sense of knowing right from wrong, are not ‘there’, so to speak, floating around; nor are they God-given. They emerge by a process of deduction and reason, beginning with the ancient Greeks. Socrates is speaking not just to Athenians; he is speaking to all people.

I cannot possibly explore all of the nuances of moral philosophy here; it would just be too horribly complex. Let me just say that my argument is based upon what is known as ‘moral universalism’; that the same principles apply across culture. In simple terms this is based on forms of self-reflection and understanding. On an intuitive level one is aware of the possibility of pain and suffering, and the need to avoid the things that cause pain and suffering, as an act of self-preservation. On a rational level this leads, on the basis of a good life, an awareness that others are also subject to pain and suffering, and the moral position is to avoid inflicting on them what one would wish to avoid having inflicted on oneself. Self-interest and reason coalesce into what I have alluded to as a transcendent value.

For instance Immanuel Kant, one of the architects of the argument I am advancing here, says that moral values-though ‘law’ is his preferred term-are binding on all, irrespective of their empirical circumstances or their individual preferences or proclivities. It is in the exercise of rationality that true moral thought lies. If this did not exist then the only basis for action would be immediate and sensuous impulses, and the only basis for morality one of self-gratification. That is to say, morality enables us to act in defiance of baser impulses, to reject the pursuit of power and glory as a justifiable end in itself, no matter what the consequences, as in the example of Genghis Khan. Morality is a free construct, freely arrived at; not dictated by God or any external impulse. Even Schopenhauer, who argues that Egoism is the guiding principle in all moral choice is forced to admit compassion as one of the ‘mysteries’, as he puts it, of ethics. Compassion reaches beyond egoism; compassion transcends egoism.

Look, I’m going to stop now, though there is so much more I could say. I do not want to test your patience too much, nor do I wish to develop a full-blown dissertation on the philosophy of ethics. Let me just say, returning to my earlier points, that it is possible to recognise the difference between what is moral and what is legal. If I had lived in Nazi Germany I know that my rational understanding, my ability to go beyond the immediacy of my circumstances, would have enabled me to see that the Nuremberg Laws were wrong and un-ethical. If I am a free, intellectually free and rational, then I will not be blinded by sophistry. Law is based on power; morality is based on truth.

Anti Beggars by-law

One of the purposes of fasting during the month of Ramadhan is to enable Muslims feel the suffering of poor people and show sympathy by giving charity.
For which purpose, several institutions have been given authority to collect the charities and to channel them to the poor people.

However, there are some people who want to give their charity directly to the poor among others to beggars. That is why, there are so many beggars on the streets of Jakarta during Ramadhan, most of them are organized by certain people who arrange the travel of those beggars from their homeland in other provinces among others Central Java.

In order to prevent those beggars from coming to Jakarta, two years ago the municipalty government and Parliament of Jakarta have passed a by-law in 2007 which forbid people from giving money to beggars, which carries a punishment of Rp 20 million (US$ 2,000) fine or 60 days in jail.
During the first ten days of Ramadhan, 12 Jakarta citizens have been arrested for giving money to beggars. Besides, the Jakarta Social Agency has gathered 850 beggars, including 83 infants.

The enforcement of this by-law is supported by the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) on one condition i.e. its enforcement should be carried selectively in the sense that people who donate to others who are really in need should not be arrested. MUI has even issued a Fatwa Haram for Beggars.

Meanwhile, a civil rights movement i.e. Urban Poor Consortium rejected this by-law, they said that such law can only be applied when there is no more poverty in Jakarta.

For details on the above, please click here, here, here and here.

Considering the above, I felt that the timing for enforcement of above by-law is inappropriate, because during Ramadhan people are supposed to be more tolerant and forgiving toward others. However, considering the by-law has already exists its enforcement should inevitably be carried outn step by step.
Firstly, it should be accompanied by taking firm action against those responsible for bringing those beggars to Jakarta. Afterwards, there should be integrated efforts between the central government, the Jakarta government and government of the provincce where those beggars orginated, to prevent the beggars from leaving their villages i.e. by providing more job and/or money making opportunities for them.

Photo: Courtesy of Weelinx