Criminal Law Policy in Indonesia: Challenges in Human Rights Protection
The criminal law policy in Indonesia continues to face challenges in effectively ensuring human rights protection. These issues were revealed in an academic study conducted by Denok Resmini, a master’s student at the Faculty of Law, University of Andalas. The study highlights the difficulties in formulating and implementing legal norms, emphasizing that the current legal framework does not sufficiently protect human rights.
Particular attention is given to shortcomings in defining and implementing the terms ‘widespread’ and ‘systematic’ in the context of crimes against humanity, which creates uncertainty in prosecuting such violations. Significant improvements to the legal framework have been made since the democratic reform of 1998, including the enactment of important laws such as Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights and Law No. 26 of 2000 on the Human Rights Court.
These laws classify serious human rights violations like genocide and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and enforced disappearances. The study also addresses the overall state of criminal law and its impact on human rights processes in Indonesia.
Despite legislative innovations, the study emphasizes the lack of legal clarity and the need to revise definitions, which is critically important for further improving the human rights situation in the country.
