Group 8 Joint Basic Learning (PDB) A-42 held a National Seminar on Monday afternoon (14/11/2022) at GKB Campus C, UNAIR. The title raised at the seminar was “Narrowing Civil Space and National Unrest in Indonesia.” Coordinator of UNAIR Amnesty Chapter Civil and Political Rights Study Committee Jobel Eron Simorangkir was invited to be a speaker that afternoon.
Jobel explained that the narrowing of civil space is a symptom when the public space for expressing their civil liberties is restricted. This means that people cannot exercise their human rights, such as freedom of expression and association, without experiencing repression from state elements. Jobel added that the phenomenon of narrowing civil space has recently been increasingly prevalent in Indonesia.
“Several examples that can be seen are the use of rubber articles in the ITE Law to criminalize critical voices, especially against the government. Article 27, paragraph (3) regarding defamation is often misused. From the 2019-2022 period alone, at least 316 cases of abuse of the ITE Law were recorded, violating freedom of expression. The victims ranged from journalists, academics, to product consumers,” said the UNAIR FH student.
Another example given by Jobel is related to police violence during demonstrations, where this violates freedom of assembly and association. This landscape can be seen from the excessive use of force against demonstrators, such as beatings and other cruel treatment, throwing stones, and the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition.
“During the 2019 protest action against the revision of the KPK Law and RKUHP, the police arbitrarily detained and arrested around 1,489 protesters. The arrest was not under procedural law, there was violence, and there was no special respect for children’s rights. And sadly, conditions such as arbitrary arrests and attacks on human rights defenders are exacerbated by impunity, because security forces often do not receive any consequences,” stressed the 2020 batch student.
Jobel said that civil space must exist in the framework of respect for human rights that are included in civil and political rights. What needs to be underlined is respect for human rights, which means these rights are negative rights. Jobel explained that if the government wants to respect negative rights, it should refrain from taking actions that could violate them.
“This means that civil space must be expanded again so that people can speak without repression or criminalization. Restrictions on these rights must be stipulated by law, for legitimate purposes, and proportionate, “concluded the UNAIR DLM member.
