"This Perppu is aimed at dealing with an emergency situation caused by increasing number of cases of sexual violence against children," President Joko Widodo said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government has decided to impose castration, using a chemical substance, as a punishment for perpetrators of sexual crimes against children.
The decision has been included in the governments regulation, brought in lieu of law (Perppu) number 1 of 2016 on child protection.
"This Perppu is aimed at dealing with an emergency situation caused by increasing number of cases of sexual violence against children," President Joko Widodo said at a press conference here on Wednesday afternoon.
He announced that he has signed Perppu Number 1, 2016 on the second amendment in Law Number 23 of 2002 on child protection.
He explained that Perppu Number 1/2016 will regulate the increased sentence or additional sentence and other measures for perpetrators of sexual violence against children and in cases of child molestation, based upon certain conditions.
The increased sentence refers to an additional one third of a sentence for criminal charges that attract a death sentence or life imprisonment or a jail sentence, with the minimum punishment of 10 years and the maximum of 20 years.
"Additional sentence will include the announcement of the identities of perpetrators, the imposition of castration by chemical method and installation of an electronic tracking device," the President observed.
President Joko Widodo hoped the additional regulations would leave judges with enough room to impose the heaviest penalty possible for the perpetrators as a deterrent.
"We hope this Perppu will have a deterrent effect on the perpetrators and will help reduce the cases of sexual crimes against children as these are extraordinary crimes," he underlined.
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly expressed the hope that all political party factions in the House of Representatives would agree with the government on the issue of imposition of a heavier penalty and additional sentence on the perpetrators of sexual crimes against children.
He explained that judges who deal with sexual crimes would now be able to impose an enhanced sentence or an additional sentence to repeat perpetrators and to those who commit the crime in a group or pedophiles.
The minister also said the Perppu would not be imposed on perpetrators who are still underage.
The Indonesian government has declared sexual crimes against children as extraordinary crimes following an increase in the number of such cases in the country recently.
The case must be handled using extraordinary methods and the government must also act in an extraordinary fashion.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
