Indonesia’s Hard-Line Muslims Push Ban on Unmarried and Gay Sex
Proposed changes to criminal code would expand definition of adultery to include sex between unmarried people
Anti-LGBT activists protest in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. PHOTO: ULET IFANSASTI/GETTY IMAGES
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Sex outside marriage, gay sex and cohabitation of unmarried couples would become illegal in Indonesia and punishable with prison terms under proposals from Islamist political parties whose influence has grown with the popularity of their conservative agenda.
The proposals are part of a draft of a revised criminal code that has been the subject of debate this week between Islamists who seek heavier penalties and more moderate lawmakers who want to restrict the scope and severity of such punishments.
The revisions cover a wide range of rules including those on freedom of speech, in what would be the most significant changes to the code since its adoption from a Dutch colonial-era law in the 1940s.
“This is one of the biggest Shariah-inspired shifts by revision of a law since the fall of Suharto,” said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, referring to the longtime dictator whose ouster in 1998 launched a democratic era in Indonesia.
Mr. Harsono said the new code would encourage hard-line groups to take the law into their own hands. In recent years, such groups have gone beyond sweeps of bars to organizing protests, at times numbering hundreds of thousands of people.
“We respect private rights, but we must not let private rights undermine the public’s rights,” said Nasir Djamil, a member of Islamic Prosperous Justice Party.
The revision is moving forward now partly because of regional elections this year and a presidential election in 2019, leaving mainstream parties less willing to oppose the conservative Islamist parties that have gained ground in recent years in this country of 250 million people, the largest Muslim-majority nation.
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“While the secular-nationalist parties are not driving this, I can’t see any of them risking their Islamic credentials ahead of elections by opposing,” said Hugo Brennan, Asia politics analyst with risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.
The new code, a recent draft of which was seen by The Wall Street Journal, would expand the definition of adultery from marital infidelity to include sex between unmarried people and make the offense punishable by up to five years in prison, up from nine months currently.
The debate comes as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights face increasing opposition, particularly from conservative Islamist and right-wing groups.
Same-sex relations are currently only banned in the province of Aceh, while same-sex marriage isn’t allowed anywhere in Indonesia.
Islamist activists in December appealed to the Constitutional Court to criminalize all sex out of wedlock and cohabitation, defined as living together as a married couple outside of marriage. The court narrowly rejected their petition in a 5-4 vote as being beyond its mandate.
Other articles in the new code would ban people from criticizing the president. The draft also expands an article on blasphemy—increasingly used to jail adherents of minority faiths, including Jakarta’s Christian governor last year—and increased the severity of punishment for the crime.
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Hard-line Islamic groups are challenging Indonesia’s tradition of religious tolerance and secular law. Video: Warangkana Chomchuen/WSJ. Photo: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images (Originally Published September 13, 2017)
One participant in the discussions on behalf of the government said that talks were focused on toning down some of the articles, such as reducing punishments or by punishing singles for having sex only if reported by parents of the couple.
Another participant said one goal of the adultery provisions was to better protect women and children.
An Indonesian gay couple prepares for a public caning in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on May 23, 2017. PHOTO: ULET IFANSASTI/GETTY IMAGES
“There are many cases of women being tricked by men into sexual relations, and [they] have no grounds to report it,” said Ichsan Soelistio, a member of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.
For gay couples, Mr. Soelistio said, a punishable violation could be limited to public displays.
Lawmakers have attempted to revise Indonesia’s criminal code for decades, arguing that it is out of step with a modern country. Various drafts have appeared over the years, but none has made it into law, partly a reflection of the complexity of opening up hundreds of articles to revision.
