Komnas HAM, Indonesia LOIPR ICCPR
identified 5 dead victims, along with many injured and 15 journalists who fell victim to
violence.
37.
Other cases also drew significant public attention. Dandhy Laksono was arrested for his
jokes about the violence in Jayapura and Wamena and was accused of inciting hate
speech. The ITE Law was also used against Ananda Badudu and Veronica Koman who
were considered to have violated the ITE Law. Saiful Mahdi, a lecturer at Syiah Kuala
University (Unsyiah) University, was charged by the ITE Law for expressing his
criticism directly to the academics through WhatsApp group regarding irregularities he
found in the Civil Service Exam. The same law was also used against musician Ahmad
Dani.2
38.
The suspension of internet service policy was carried out in Papua in August 2019 by
the Ministry of Communication and Information on the grounds of security and order
in Papua and its neighboring regions on the basis of Article 40 paragraph (2a) and (2b)
of the ITE Law.
39.
With regard to the suspension of internet service carried out by the Ministry of
Communication and Information, it should be noted that suspension should be carried
out by an independent body. In addition, there is no mechanism for recovery in such
case of suspension of internet service.
List of issues:
1) How is the mechanism for restricting freedom of opinion and expression not
contradictory to a person’s rights according to the principles of human rights,
including the application of the multi-interpretable ITE Law?
2) The MOU with the Police is a positive modality to guarantee freedom of opinion
and expression. How does Indonesia promote the effectiveness of the MOU
between Komnas HAM and the Police in guaranteeing freedom of opinion and
expression in an accountable and transparent manner, as well as the MOU between
the Press Council and the Police?
3) How can internet service management guarantee accountable and independent
freedom of opinion and expression so that incident like the internet shutdown in
Papua, the 21-23 May and 24-30 September 2019 events, will not be repeated
without accountability and transparency?
4) How does the legal framework in the future accommodate potential conflicts
between freedom of opinion and expression and individual reputation, as part of
provisions of the civil law?
f. Access to justice and excessive use of authority
40.
Komnas HAM took note that fulfilment of rights to justice has not been carried out
properly. This is particularly evident in agrarian conflicts, mining, eviction, or cases
involving minority, vulnerable and marginal groups. State officials have not worked
SAFEnet compiled the cases in the Supreme Court and noted that, in 2018, there were 292 cases related to the
ITE Law, more than double the previous year (140). Cases in 2018 even exceeded the total cases from 2011 to
2017 (216 cases). The total number of cases related to the ITE Law in Supremem Court over in the last five
years has reached 508 cases (SAFEnet, Treacherous Path towards Digital Rights SAFEnet Annual Report,
Denpasar: SAFEnet, 2018).
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