RUU Pornografi

Nov 30th, 2006, in News, by

[Updated] The long, tortuous journey of the RUU Anti Pornoaksi Pornografi is approaching its end.

The name of the bill has been changed, dropping the “anti” part (RUU AP or RUU PP), and a revised copy of the draft has been finalised and handed over to a vice-chairman of the parliament, Zaenal Maarif.

Balkan Kaplale
Balkan Kaplale.

Although the changes that have been agreed upon by the deliberating committee are not known in detail it is known that the number of articles has been drastically cut down. Where previously there had been 19 sections containing 93 articles the new bill has only 5 sections and 30 articles.

The head of the special committee, Balkan Kaplale, assures that the new version of the bill has taken into account the objections to the original draft, objections which revolved around what were seen as attempts to over-regulate dress and behavioural matters, which some people saw as an attempt at Arabisation of Indonesian norms, or Islamisation. Said Balkan Kaplale on the 28th: detik

There’s no “anti” in the name. So it’s just the indecency and pornography bill. All the submissions to the committee have been accomodated, including on the question of punishments.
(Nama RUU ini tidak ada ‘anti’-nya. Jadi langsung RUU Pornografi dan Pornoaksi. Semua sudah mengakomodir masukan yang ada, termasuk sanksi-sanksinya.)

Additionally, the ten parties represented on the special committee, from the Islamist PKS to the secular PDIP, have all agreed on the new form of the bill. metrotv

Belly Button
The belly button issue seems to have been settled.

It is hoped that the bill will come before parliament in the next session, between January and April 2007. Said Zaenal Maarif detik, in likely reference to the objections previously raised by non-Muslim areas of the country, such as in Bali:

We hope it will be finished by the next parliamentary session, because it already reflects the diversity of the nation.
(Kami harap pada masa sidang berikutnya ini sudah selesai, karena isinya sudah mengandung kebhinnekaan bangsa ini.)

_______________

January 18th 2007

The latest reports say that the bill is unchanged from the original version, only that the number of articles has been condensed, but that the content of them is the same. The words “anti” and “pornoaksi” have been dropped. It is expected to be passed into law by February.

There are 9 sections and 30 articles, 16 articles concerning protection of children, 8 articles for penalties, and 6 articles on “pornoaksi”, or indecent behaviour, including sub-sections on allowed forms of dress.

Balkan Kaplale says the wishes of the people have been accomodated in the formulation of the bill. He said that two definitions of pornography were used in the bill, “soft” and “hard”. Soft pornography was, for example, the display in pictures or video of womens’ bottoms, breasts, or hips in public. “Hard” pornography was, for example, the sex video of Yahya Zaini and Maria Eva.

He said punishments for distributing porn would be up to 15 years jail or a fine of 2 billion rupiah.

Some commentators, including Universitas Indonesia lecturer Gadis Arivia, womens’ rights activist from Komnas Perempuan, Neng Dara Affifah, as well as Ratna Sarumpaet from the Unity in Diversity alliance, Aliansi Bhineka Tunggal Ika (ABTI), complained that the bill was over the top.

Gadis Arivia said the matter of protecting children from porn was already dealt with in the criminal code.

There are at least 20 articles on pornography in the criminal code.
(Malah di KUHP sudah ada setidaknya 20 pasal tentang pornografi.)

She said children’s access to porn should be restricted but the solution wasn’t to make laws on how they were allowed to dress.

Neng Dara Affifah was dismissive of the law, saying that the Broadcasting Act and the Child Protection Act already were sufficient. mediaindo

Ratna Sarumpaet urged that the bill be scrapped. She said that the formulators of the bill had failed to appear in court several times after the ABTI had filed a lawsuit against them. mediaindo

_______________

February 28th 2007

Article in Washington Post – “Indonesia dilutes anti-pornography bill”. House of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono says: washingtonpost

A law must not create divisions within the nation and must be accepted by all citizens.

In places like Bali and Papua, bare-breasted women are a daily sight. If such things are banned it will be against local customs.


103 Comments on “RUU Pornografi”

  1. Cukurungan says:

    What he/she (andrey) hopes will happen is to get rid of anything that doesn’t fit the brainwashed muslim’s bigoted view of a uniformed jilbab society where even the slightest deviation of the daily-life rules set out by the ulama’s will be hard-handedly oppressed. Something like George Orwell’s “1984? but in a religious context and under a clerical thumb.

    So what is wrong with that if we our majority Rakyat ok with that, it is our chosen way of life and it does not govern your lust to a boy, however, if you are not happy with that, you can go from here, there is still many other paradise in this planet in which free of the Islamic bigot waiting on your arrival such as port Moresby, Mexico City Street and Columbian Jungle….Ok sir…is that clear sir

    To me, this makes a society uneducated. Nothing to do with degree, sir. (and here I intentionally refuse to comment on your rather insular view of: ““real” academic degree like from ITB or UI” – as this is neither here nor there)

    What kind of education you want to offer upon our society, free sex, sex with mother in law, threesome, wife swap, better way to take suicide ….ha ha ha….our society does not need any kind of education from the other but we need to protect our society from the bule lust.

  2. ET says:

    Are you in panic mode, Cukurungan? 🙂

  3. schmerly says:

    @ Cuk..

    What kind of education you want to offer upon our society, free sex, sex with mother in law, threesome, wife swap

    All of the above is rampant in Indonesia, apart from the education, you obviously lead a sheltered life and need to get out more and look around you.

    our society does not need any kind of education from the other but we need to protect our society from the bule lust

    And it would be nice to protect your society from the Indonesian lust, like marrying little girls.

  4. Miss Daisy says:

    What kind of education you want to offer upon our society, free sex, sex with mother in law, threesome, wife swap, better way to take suicide ….ha ha ha….our society does not need any kind of education from the other but we need to protect our society from the bule lust.

    🙂 question that should be directed within, mas Cuk, if you ask me. “Education” begins at home. When we worry about morality, we should reflect that situation onto ourselves. Have I teach high moral standards to my children, what are my conducts, have I exercise them myself. It begins with yourself. We have a choice. Sure, we can use that choice to watch dangdut sexy dance, oogling on skimpydressed women, or (as your words) free sex, sex with mother in law etc etc, but it remains as a choice. A choice that relies on you alone. You are the one responsible for it. If you enjoy doing the above, then regulate yourself. Be it with the religious teaching you believe in, or with any other measures. Whats the point of blaming others?

    Regulating morality isnt protecting anything. It is a reflection towards our own incapability to regulate ourselves as a decent human being. We should be ashamed of ourselves, not proud of it. Repression of moral conduct (i.e control the way women are dressing) through direct governmental power which you might think as entirely reasonable when viewed in isolation, is infact an assault to your own morality when looked at as a whole and giving leeways to all sort of things from intimidation and suppression to prejudice and intolerence. Thus, dumbing down our society.
    I see it as a testament to our incapability to perform based on our own value of decencies. I see it as a confusion about what being Indonesian actually really means in terms of our culture and values.

    Why ask the kind of education to apply for our society when we are the one responsible for it, by starting it at home and with ourselves.

    *oh just to clarify, I am “our society”, mas. 🙂

  5. schmerly says:

    Miss Daisy.. Just an aside, there was an old Chinese Singaporean woman who years ago said something on these lines “if you educate the husband you educate the man, but if you educate the wife you educate the family” I think that’s still true today.

  6. Miss Daisy says:

    Schmerly,
    then a more reason to view women as key to a greater society and not view them as an object, yea? Altho i could already hear andrey and mas cukurungan say “thats why we keep our women inside! To breed and teach our children. And cover them up so not to invite lust from men!”
    i guess it really depends on how u look at it 🙂
    Me, in a context of family, im more for educating the parents as they both hold a profound influence on mattes of conscience.

  7. Mike Oxblack says:

    Banning porn is going to be a tough struggle in this country. Indonesians, especially in Jakarta, are vociferous consumers of the stuff, the dirty buggers. 😉

  8. schmerly says:

    Miss Daisy..

    thats why we keep our women inside! To breed and teach our children. And cover them up so not to invite lust from men!

    Yes and that’s the attitude of a lot of Moslem men, they treat their wives like “things” not human beings, with their own needs and feelings, I find this all rather sad and I wonder why it has to be like this, the men all seem bent on controlling women! why are they so afraid of women? I understand it’s because women seduce men! how pathetic is that.
    I was told once by an educated Pakistani Moslem that women are dangerous! and people like this call themselves men! more like silly little boys.

  9. Miss Daisy says:

    I wonder why it has to be like this, the men all seem bent on controlling women! why are they so afraid of women?

    beats me, im curious as well. Maybe andrey & mas cukurungan can explain that better.

    I was told once by an educated Pakistani Moslem that women are dangerous!

    a friend of mine once said, those who are afraid of something usually have something to hide. in this case I guess those who are threatened by women are those who cant hide their thing. So whos the perv now?

  10. schmerly says:

    Miss Daisy.. I think it’s the weird teachings their brought up with.

  11. Simon says:

    This piece of legislation lacks its legal standing and UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It absolutely lacks clear, absolute language that can be interpreted with the exact meaning making process by different individuals, even in the same ethnic background in Indonesia. The definition of pornography itself means different values, moral standing and level of sexual arousal. How can a piece of legislation be enacted if the very terminology of “pornography” itself cannot be uniformedly defined? Would native Papuans themselves who merely attempt to embrace their cultural heritage and rich tradition by wearing the koteka be considered pornography? And from daily living example, what about people who exercise or take a dive at the beach who are wearing swimsuits, are these people REALLY felons for violating the ridiculous “Pornography” Law?
    Secondly, this law is also unconstitutional because it impedes the very fundamental rights that every citizens in the country has, human rights–fundamental rights protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Are the constitution and the people of Indonesia going to allow the government and some religious interest groups impede and invade on their human rights? What about the very core freedom of speech and freedom of expression that Pemuda Reformasi were struggling to gain during and after the dictator era of Suharto? People who supported and co-sponsored this law can forget about fighting for women’s rights, children’s embetterment for their education, and the future of democracy in Indonesia. Lawmakers are definitely hypocrites promising the future of well-progressed, democratic,prosperous, and freedom in “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” and yet they rape people’s freedom of speech and expression by trying to enforce uniformity in culture, heritage, and tradition. Hello?! are we against the idea of Communism and yet our government is trying to enforce the very aspect of Communism, that is uniformity?

  12. Nay says:

    Yes and that’s the attitude of a lot of Moslem men, they treat their wives like “things” not human beings, with their own needs and feelings, I find this all rather sad and I wonder why it has to be like this, the men all seem bent on controlling women! why are they so afraid of women? I understand it’s because women seduce men! how pathetic is that.

    That’s one way of looking at it. The funny thing is, that Islam actually claims that it treats women properly. Hard to believe, I’m sure.

    I’ve head Islamic scholars argue that western society exploits women. Not only are they used to be overtly sexual to sell things via marketing, but they no longer have the security of marriage to back them up. They’re out there having to work in the workforce, getting paid less than men,… and with so much sex available to men, who will marry them and start a family?

    I have to admit that they have a point there…. you can see that the family unit is taking a heavy beating in the west. However, the Islamic interpretation assumes that having children to maintain society is the desirable end goal.

    Either way, I think women need to be the ones in control of their own bodies, and educated to make their own choices with the brain God gave them.

  13. ET says:

    However, the Islamic interpretation assumes that having children to maintain society is the desirable end goal.

    I rather have the feeling that the desirable end goal of having children is to breed more muslims.

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