Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Indonesia (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee has noted with interest the information provided by the Government in its first report on the application of the Convention. It would be grateful if the Government would supply, with its next report, copies of the following legislation: the latest updated and consolidated text of the Criminal Code; Prisons Regulations and any other provisions governing the work of prisoners; the Civil Servants Act, as amended; laws governing the press and other media; laws governing political parties; any provisions governing labour discipline in merchant shipping and any provisions restricting the right to strike and imposing sanctions for participation in illegal strikes. The Committee also requests the Government to supply additional information on the following points.

1. Article 1(a) of the Convention. The Committee notes that sentences of imprisonment (which involve compulsory prison labour under sections 14, 19 and 57(1) of the Criminal Code and section 59(2) of Prisons Regulations) may be imposed under sections 107(a), 107(d) and 107(e) of the Law concerning the amendment to the Criminal Code in relation to Crime against State Security (No. 27/1999), on any person who disseminates or develops the teachings of Communism/Marxism-Leninism orally, in writing or through any media, or establishes an organization based on such teachings, or establishes relations with such organizations, with a view to replace Pancasila as the State’s foundation.

The Committee recalls that Article 1(a) of the Convention prohibits the use of forced or compulsory labour as a punishment for holding or expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. It refers in this connection to paragraphs 133 to 140 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, where it observed that the Convention does not prohibit punishment by penalties involving compulsory labour of persons who use violence, incite to violence or engage in preparatory acts aimed at violence; but sanctions involving compulsory labour fall within the scope of the Convention where they enforce a prohibition of the expression of views or of opposition to the established political, social or economic system, whether such prohibition is imposed by law or by a discretionary administrative decision. The Committee therefore hopes that the necessary measures will be taken to bring the above provisions into conformity with the Convention, and that the Government will provide information on the measures taken or contemplated in this regard.

2. The Committee notes that the Law on the Freedom of Expression in Public (No. 9/1998) imposes certain restrictions on the expression of ideas in public during public gatherings, demonstrations, parades, etc., such restrictions being enforceable with criminal sanctions (sections 15, 16 and 17 of the Law). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on these sanctions, supplying copies of relevant texts, as well as information on the application of the above Law in practice, including copies of court decisions defining or illustrating its scope.

3. The Committee notes that the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 11 of 1963 on the eradication of subversive activities, punish, inter alia, the following criminal acts of subversion:

-  distortion, undermining or deviating from the ideology of Pancasila State or the broad policy lines of the State;

-  disseminating feelings of hostility or anxiety among the population; and

-  disturbing, retarding or disrupting industry, production, distribution, commerce, cooperatives or transport conducted by the Government or based upon a decision of the Government (section 1).

The Committee requests the Government to indicate, in its next report, whether this Presidential Decree is still in force, and if so, to indicate sanctions applicable for its violation, supplying copies of relevant texts, and to provide information on its application in practice, including copies of court decisions defining or illustrating its scope.