"This aims to fulfill the right of special protection for children, so they do not receive repressive treatment," KPAI member Aris Adi Leksono explained on Friday.
He said that KPAI has asked the authorities to provide medical assistance to injured underage students.
According to him, several children are currently being held at the Regional Police and Resort Police so they need to have access to their rights, as per Article 59A of the Child Protection Law.
The KPAI has expressed the hope that the authorities, along with parents and schools, will educate students regarding the right to participate in demonstrations while still respecting public order and personal safety.
"Parents missing their children from the demonstration can immediately report to KPAI," Leksono said.
In the demonstration against the ratification of the revised Regional Election Law on Thursday, KPAI found that some children had joined the protest.
"We saw around 300–400 children wearing student attributes or joining the group who participated in the demonstration," he said.
He added that they were seen coming from Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium, the toll road, and the Bendungan Hilir area around 6 p.m. local time in five groups.
Some were seen holding the bamboo flagpoles of political parties on the side of the road. They coordinated through WhatsApp messenger and other applications, including online games, he informed.
The protests were against the revised Regional Election Law, particularly the adjustment of Article 7 of the Regional Election Law on the age requirement for regional head nomination.
Article 7 paragraph (2) letter e agreed that the minimum age must be 30 years for gubernatorial candidates and deputy gubernatorial candidates, and 25 years for district head candidates as well as mayoral candidates and deputy mayoral candidates, calculated from the date of inauguration of the elected pair.
Second, the amendment to Article 40 accommodated part of the Constitutional Court's decision by changing the provisions of the regional election nomination threshold and applying it only to non-parliamentary parties or those without seats in the Regional Representative Council (DPRD).
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Translator: Anita Permata Dewi, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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