Dessy Sagita – The 2009 Law on Narcotics is too repressive and contains articles that could potentially violate human rights, the National AIDS Commission said on Wednesday.

"At least six articles in the Narcotics Law No. 35 of 2009 could be misused and potentially disrupt our efforts to curb drug use in Indonesia," Nafsiah Mboi, the secretary of the commission, said at a news conference.

She added that before passing it into law, guidelines based on previous laws on health, child protection and human rights should have been taken into consideration to give the articles more clarity and substance.

For instance, she said, the new law required all drug users, addicts and non-addicts, to report themselves to the nearest health facility to be registered. But it failed to give clear instructions on how such a report should be filed, and if patients could expect to receive treatment for drug use.

"There is no clear explanation or guarantee that every heath facility will be able to provide the proper treatment and therapy for the drug users," she said.

Nafsiah said people would hesitate to voluntarily report themselves without clear instructions. She also said that the new law stipulated harsher punishment for those caught using drugs without registering themselves, or those who distributed or sold the drugs. "Harsher punishment could be a good thing if accompanied by proper guidance. If not, there will more problems to come," she said.

Under the new law, drug addicts are considered criminals and parents of underage addicts are also considered as having committed a crime if they fail to notify authorities of their children's drug addiction. They are also subject to a Rp 1 million ($107) fine and a maximum of six months in prison.

Nafsiah said the government should immediately issue decrees to clarify how vague articles in the law would be enforced. "Otherwise, we will consider taking other steps, such as filing a judicial review request," she added.