Jakarta – The final draft of a bill makes provisions for an institution to be set up to ensure that witnesses and victims are protected throughout their encounters with the justice system.
It is expected that the draft of the witness and victim protection bill will be endorsed by lawmakers Tuesday in a plenary session of the House of Representatives. Deliberations on the bill started six years ago.
Article 27 of the bill states that witnesses and victims in the cases of terrorism, gross violations of human rights, money laundering, drug crimes and human trafficking are entitled to protection from the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK).
"A witness or victim may receive protection after the significance of their testimonies, the severity of the threat against them, medical or psychological records and their police record are considered," the bill says. The bill also compels the LPSK to provide protection for the relatives of witnesses and victims.
The independent body would have seven members, to be appointed by the President with the approval of the House. Members would be chosen for their experience in human rights activism or work for a non-governmental organization, prosecutor's office or the police force. Membership would end after five years.
The LPSK would also ensure victims were informed of their rights and received the appropriate assistance, such as reparation in criminal cases.
A number of factions in the House, however, are campaigning to diminish the role of the LPSK in acting as a mediator in the expending of compensation.
The National Awakening Party (PKB) faction, for instance, has said the LPSK should only be given the authority to determine how much money the government has to pay out in human rights abuse cases. "Reparation for victims in criminal cases is a matter for the courts," PKB faction spokesman M. Mahfud said.
The draft bill has also drawn criticism from a coalition of NGOs. The Coalition for Witness Protection said that in spite of the planned establishment of a witness and victim protection body, the bill only provided "half-hearted" protection.
"The lawmakers seemed to have succumbed to the government's attempt to water down the definition of witness and victim. There are numerous articles that put limits on how much the two should be compensated. But there is no mention of medical or psychological assistance," the coalition said in a statement.