RI told to include definition of torture in its criminal code

The UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) has undescored the need for the Indonesian government to immediately include the definition of torture in its Criminal Code and separate male, female and child inmates in prisons in the country.

The committee also called on Jakarta to explain its policies on impunity and child and woman protection, the Indonesian permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva said in an official statement issued on Thursday.

It said the issues surfaced at a dialog between the committee and the Indonesian government in Geneva early this week.

Report the practice of the convention

The committee is made up of 10 independent experts tasked with monitoring the activities of the UN Convention on anti-torture. All countries which are parties to the convention are obliged to submit regular reports once every four years to the committee on efforts they have made to practice the convention in the countries.

The committee discussed the Indonesian report on the abolition of torture on May 6-7 on the sidelines of its 40th session from April 28 to May 16, the statement said.

On the occasion, chairman of the Indonesian delegation to the meeting Rezlan Izhar Jenie, who is also director general of multilateral relations at the Foreign Ministry presented his paper focusing on the latest developments in the application of the convention in Indonesia, particularly after the country submitted its report to the committee in 2005.

Monitor the implementation of the convention

Under the regulation on the committee`s work method, the discussion of reports from parties to the convention was aimed at creating constructive dialogs with the relevant governments in an effort to monitor the implementation of the convention in the countries.

In addition, ...