Jakarta – Amnesty International calls for the Indonesian government to revoke provisions of chemical castration and the death penalty as punishment for sex offenders following the recent endorsement of a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on child protection by the House of Representatives.
"The sexual abuse of children is indescribably horrific, but subjecting offenders to chemical castration or executions is not justice, it is adding one cruelty to another," Amnesty International's researcher on Indonesia Papang Hidayat said in a press statement on Thursday.
Punitively imposing chemical castration, a drug or hormone treatment to suppress sex drive, is cruel, inhuman and considered degrading under international law, he said.
Besides chemical castration, the regulation also makes it possible for judges to administer life imprisonment sentences or the death penalty to convicted child rapists, which has raised concern among human rights activists.
The punishment for sex offenders adds to the serious flaws in Indonesia's justice system and the country's poor record of human rights, Papang said.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo issued the Perppu in May in response to public demands for harsher punishment for rapists following a number of reports of child murders and sex crimes. The House passed the bill into law on Wednesday despite rights activists outcries as there are not details provided in the law for carrying out punishments.
The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) has reiterated its refusal to perform chemical castration, saying this procedure violates medical ethics. (rin)