M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations demanded Sunday the House of Representatives draft a regulation that would outlaw all types of discrimination.
The Committee for the Eradication of Discrimination from Indonesia said in a statement the House special committee tasked with deliberating the bill on the eradication of ethnic and racial discrimination must make provisions outlawing other forms of discrimination.
"On top of ethnicity and race, people should not be discriminated against because of their gender, religion, political convictions, physical handicaps, status of birth, nationality and wealth," the coalition said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post.
The coalition said such a broad definition would annul the bulk of prevailing laws and regulations that maintained discriminatory practices in their provisions.
"There are numerous bylaws that keep discrimination against certain groups in place," it said. The coalition also cited a number of violent acts committed against organizations and individuals with controversial political and religious views as a reason for an all-encompassing provision.
The bill on the eradication of racial and ethnic discrimination, currently being deliberated by a special committee, is a leftover from the previous seating period.
As the bill's title suggests, it seeks only to outlaw racial and ethnic discrimination. It was proposed by the House and is being discussed simultaneously with one relating to civil registration and has caused some debate.
A number of groups have alleged the bill, once passed into law, would favor small and minority groups in the country.
Ethnic Chinese groups have said they believe a new anti-discrimination law is unnecessary, but that they would like to see the end of what they regard as unfair treatment of ethnic Chinese by the government.
Other groups, such as the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) said the bill, once it took effect, would only give rise to redundancy and legal confusion, as the Indonesian government had already ratified numerous United Nations conventions against discrimination.
In spite of the controversy, deputy chairman of the House special committee Mufid A. Busairy of the National Awakening Party said lawmakers would press ahead with their deliberation of the bill.
"A law on anti-discrimination is necessary to bring an end to all the types of discriminatory practice which we see in society committed by both sides, the majority and minority groups," he told the Post.