FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN INDONESIAN PRESS: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.blj.2016.00301.03Keywords:
freedom of speech, human rights, Indonesia, freedom of expressionAbstract
This paper will firstly examine the international framework of human rights law and its guidelines for safeguarding the right to freedom of speech in the press. Secondly, it will describe the constitutional and other legal rights protecting freedom of speech in Indonesia and assess their compatibility with the right to freedom of speech under the international human rights law framework. Thirdly it will consider the impact of Indonesia's constitutional law and criminal and civil law, including sedition and defamation laws, and finally media ownership, on the interpretation and scope of the right to freedom of speech in the press. Consideration of these laws will be integrated with a discussion of judicial processes. This discussion will be used to determine how and in what circumstances the constitutional right to freedom of speech in the press may be facilitated or enabled, or on the other hand, limited, overridden or curtailed in Indonesia. Conclusions will then be drawn regarding the strengths and weaknesses of Indonesian laws in safeguarding the right to freedom of speech in the press and the democratic implications from an international human rights perspective. This inquiry will be restricted to Indonesian laws in existence during the post-New Order period of 1998 to the present, and to the information and analysis provided by English-language sources.
References
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CASES
Constitutional Court Decision No 012- 022/PUU-IV/2006
Constitutional Court Decision No 6/PUU-V/2007
Handyside v United Kingdom (1976) 24 ECHR (ser. A) 23
LEGISLATION
The Indonesian Criminal Code (Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Pidana)
The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia
Law No 5/1969 of the Republic of Indonesia on Subversion
Law No 9/1998 of the Republic of Indonesia on Freedom of Expression
Law No 39/1999 of the Republic of Indonesia on Human Rights
Law No 40/1999 of the Republic of Indonesia on the Press
Law No 12/ 2005 of the Republic of Indonesia on the Confirmation (Pengesahan) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Law No 11/2008 of the Republic of Indonesia on Electronic Information and Transaction
Stipulation made by the National Assembly of the Consultative Council of the Republic of Indonesia No. XVII/MPR/1998 on Human Rights
TREATIES
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’) GA res 2200A, UN GOAR, 21st sess, Supp No (16) 52, UN Doc A/6316 (1966)
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (‘UDHR’), GA Res 217A (III) UN GAOR, 3rd sess, 183rd plen mtg, UN Doc A/810 (10 December1948)
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