[Joint Statement] INDONESIA: Amendment of Criminal Procedure Code Must Address Existing Violations and Strengthen the Accountability and Redress Mechanisms for Victims
GENEVA, Switzerland (17 July 2025) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and the undersigned organizations call on the government of Indonesia to immediately halt the ongoing legislative process to pass an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code (“Code”) until meaningful consultations with civil society, academia, and the broader public are ensured.
“The initiative to amend the Criminal Procedure Code must undergo a rigorous and inclusive review process, particularly on the specific provisions that have caused or could further jeopardize the people’s rights to due process of law,” said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
We urge the Indonesian government to ensure inclusive participation of the public in the drafting and decision making process, and to ensure that the revised Code upholds international human rights standards and strengthens mechanisms for accountability and redress.
Development of the Draft Code
The initiative to amend the Code has been put on the Parliament’s agenda since 2004. However, meaningful progress has stalled since 2012. In 2025, the revision process has been prioritized, allegedly to align with the implementation of the 2022 amended Criminal Code, which is set to take effect in January 2026.
On 8 July, the Civil Society Coalition for the Criminal Procedure Code Reform (hereafter “the Coalition”) held a press conference to raise concerns over the rushed drafting process, which has excluded meaningful public scrutiny. Although the government claims to have held approximately 50 meetings of public consultations, the Coalition noted that key inputs from civil society were not reflected in the working draft.
The government’s motives remain unclear, whether this process genuinely aims to address systemic weakness in the current Code or is simply an attempt to expand and consolidate powers without sufficient oversight.
On the same day, the Ministry of Law formally submitted the List of Inventory of Issues (Daftar Inventarisasi Masalah, DIM) to the House of Representatives’ Commission on Law and Legislation, Human Rights and Security Affairs officially kick-starting the parliamentary discussion to amend the Code. Despite the document containing 1,676 issues, it is yet to be
made accessible for the public. The parliament also announced that it concluded discussions on the document just two days later, on 10 July, without public oversight.
Civil society reports indicate that the amendment is likely to be approved within the next few weeks, raising urgent concerns about its democratic legitimacy.
Substantive and procedural Issues observed
The Coalition has identified nine major concerns to the government’s version of the draft namely:
- Lack of judicial oversight over the dismissal or inaction on individual complaints.
- Inadequate mechanism for victims of procedural violations to seek accountability for coercive measures (e.g. arrests, detention, search, seizure and wiretapping).
- Failure to adopt human rights-based approaches to coercive measures.
- Restricted access for legal aid providers to evidence and case files during pre-trial proceedings, undermining access to fair trials.
- The adoption of special investigative techniques such as entrapments for drug cases without judicial approval heightening risk of arbitrary arrest and detention, case fabrication, and manipulation.
- Problematic evidentiary standards, with overemphasis on quantity over relevance of evidence.
- Improper guidelines on online trials and hearings and lack of mechanism to challenge verdicts affected by technical issues.
- Misinterpretation of restorative justice, reducing it to case diversion rather than a mechanism to restore the victim’s rights.
- Lack of clarity on responsible authorities and operational procedures for safeguarding the rights of victims, witnesses, suspects, defendants and vulnerable groups.
It remains unknown whether the latest draft has addressed these concerns, due to its inaccessibility for the public. The current amendment process echoes previous trends of rushed, non-transparent lawmaking, including the passage of the amendments to the National Armed Forces Law and the Omnibus Law on Job Creation.
The people’s resistance to the problematic legislation
In response ,the Coalition has released a counter-draft,challenging and resisting the government’s version, which has deviated from the principles of rule of law, human rights, and democracy.
The counter-draft, developed collectively by numerous civil society organizations, includes fundamental protections for witnesses and victims, including those with disabilities, strict judicial supervision on coercive measures, strengthened access to legal aid, a restorative justice framework, , and mechanisms for objection and redress victims of abuse of power by state authorities.
Call to action
The undersigned organizations below urge the Indonesian government to immediately suspend the rushed process of amending the Code. While there is a legitimate need to reform outdated provisions, any revision must prioritize the protection of human rights and strengthen, rather than weaken, due process guarantees.
We call on the government to ensure full transparency and inclusive participation in the legislative process, including engaging with civil society. The government must also take the Coalition’s counter-draft into serious consideration to strengthen its own version of the Code.
Indonesia must ensure that any amended provisions are in full compliance with its international human rights standards. This includes commitments that Indonesia has undertaken under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) as well as to adhere to recommendations from the United Nations Special Mandate Holders
“The Criminal Procedure Code is one of the most vital legal instruments, as it directly governs and regulates how state authorities enforce the law on individuals. As a country that is supposedly guided by the principle of the rule of law, Indonesia must ensure that the revised Code does not infringe human rights, but rather, prioritizes it.” Said Mary Aileen Diez Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
Signatories:
- Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
- Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI)
- Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI)
- Human Rights Working Group (HRWG)
- Indonesia Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI)
- The Commission on the Disappeared and Victim of Violence (KontraS)
- The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM)
- The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (IMPARSIAL)