Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
After four years of debate, Indonesia's parliament passed a new drug law Monday. It was immediately criticized by reformers on numerous counts.
The new law maintains the death penalty for some drug offenses, criminalizes drug addiction, and makes it a crime for parents to fail to report their addicted children to authorities. The law also transfers responsibility for fighting drug trafficking from the government to civil society.
"The drugs law will save our children and young generation. It will be essential in the fight against drug trafficking," said Minister for Law and Human Rights Andi Mattalatta after the bill was passed. "Currently, drug dealing is not only conducted by individuals but by drugs syndicates that operate neatly," he said.
But the Indonesian Coalition for Drug Policy Reform (ICDPR) begged to differ. "This law classifies drug addicts as criminals and therefore subjects them to criminal charges, while doctors have said that drug addiction is a curable disease," Asmin Francisca, the group's coordinator told reporters outside parliament's plenary session hall. "The law should have recognized that a proper solution to drug addiction is to empower drug addicts, not to punish them as criminals."
Asmin warned that the article in the law transferring responsibility for fighting trafficking from the government to civil society could lead to vigilante justice. "The article, however, does not clearly elaborate on what kind of civil participation is needed to fight the war against drug trafficking," she said. "Without clear regulations, the law is open to many forms of exploitation by civil groups, including acts of vigilantism."
Asmin also condemned the retention of the death penalty for some drug offenses.
"Death penalties are not in line with the purpose of modern criminal charges that aim to rehabilitate a person rather than punish them for their actions," she said. "Basically, I believe this law is not in line with the basic principles of human rights."
According to the Indonesian National Narcotics Agency's extremely precise figures, there are 27,000 drug users in the country, including 12,689 aged 30 or older, 6,790 between 25 and 29, 5,720 between 20 and 24, 1,747 between 16 and 19, and 109 users under the age of 16.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
It's their loss
Not that I have such buying power, but if I did, I would be sure to never visit indonesia. what a lost vacation......alaska's so much better.....
Boycott Indonesia
Why would anyone want to go to a coumtry that kills it's own people for drug offenses?
Even our hard line drug war nazi's don't suggest we try that!
Boycott Indonesia ! ! !
Indonesia's Law Makers
Everyone in Indonesia knows that the major traffickers of heavy drugs (heroin, amphetamines, cocaine and ecstasy) are the Police and Army. Just visit any all night club in Jakarta and see how many people are really taking drugs. A lot more than the Indonesian Government say. The death penalty is to discourage competition in selling drugs not to discourage trafficking. They keep the criminal charges for users in place to trap foreigners for bribes and blackmail.
The Law Makers of Indonesia are uneducated and have no idea what they are doing. Not just in Drug law but business as well. Do yourself a favor and boycott the country for tourism. They don't like westerners anyway, they don't even get along with they Malaysian neighbours. They are promoting nationalism and racism and just want your money, and you are at risk of being setup for blackmail if you go there.
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