Foreign tourists walk on a beach in Seminyak, Badung regency on Indonesia resort island of Bali, on Dec 7, 2022.
(SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)
JAKARTA – Indonesia summoned a United Nations official on Monday after the organization expressed concerns over threats to civil liberties posed by the newly-ratified revisions to its criminal code, its foreign ministry said.
Indonesia's parliament last week approved an overhaul of its criminal code, prohibiting sex outside marriage and cohabitation between unmarried couples, among other controversial revisions. Officials say it aims to uphold "Indonesian values" in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.
Teuku Faizasyah, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said the ministry summoned the UN resident coordinator in Jakarta over the comment, saying the organization should have consulted with the government before airing its misgivings
The UN said the revised laws could result in the erosion of press freedom, privacy and human rights in the world's third-largest democracy.
Teuku Faizasyah, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said the ministry summoned the UN resident coordinator in Jakarta over the comment, saying the organization should have consulted with the government before airing its misgivings.
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"They should have come to consult, just like other international representatives. We hope they do not hasten to express views, or when there's not enough information," he said.
The UN official, Valerie Julliand, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government has rushed to allay concerns expressed by tourism associations that the new laws, especially those on sex outside marriage or cohabitation, may scare away tourists from its shores.
Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, Indonesia's deputy justice minister, told reporters on Monday the code "does not disturb" the interests of foreign investors or tourists so long as authorities adhere to national guidelines, adding the government would spend the next three years ensuring adherence.
I Wayan Koster, the governor of the island of Bali, the center of Indonesia's tourism, in a statement on Sunday noted the new laws, which will come into force in three years, could only be applied if there was a complaint by a parent, spouse or child.
Those who "visit or live in Bali would not need to worry with regard to the entry into force of the Indonesian Criminal Code", he said.
Foreign tourists enjoy their holiday on a beach in Seminyak, Badung regency on Indonesia resort island of Bali on Dec 7, 2022. (SONNY TUMBELAKA / AFP)
The governor said provisions in the criminal code on this issue had been altered from an earlier, stricter version so "would provide a better guarantee of everyone's privacy and comfortableness."
Bali's government would ensure "there will be no checking on marital status upon check-in at any tourism accommodation, such as hotels, villas, apartments, guest houses, lodges and spas," said Bali Governor I Wayan Koster
Bali's government would ensure "there will be no checking on marital status upon check-in at any tourism accommodation, such as hotels, villas, apartments, guest houses, lodges and spas," Wayan said.
Wayan also denied what he said were "hoax" reports of cancellations of flights and hotel room bookings, adding that data from travel agents, tour and accommodation operators, as well as airlines, showed the number of people set to visit Bali from December 2022 to March 2023 had increased.
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Bali is the center of tourism in Indonesia and the tourism association is targeting foreign arrivals on the predominately Hindu island to reach pre-pandemic levels of six million a year by 2025.
Decades in the making, legislators hailed the passage of the criminal code as a much-needed overhaul of a vestige of Dutch colonial rule. Officials say it aims to uphold "Indonesian values" in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.
But the new code is "totally counter-productive" at a time when the economy and tourism were starting to recover from the pandemic, Maulana Yusran, deputy chief of Indonesia's tourism industry board, said last week.