AJI: ATTACKS ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND PRESS FREEDOM ARE HARMFUL TO ALL OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS

Jakarta, May 3rd 2023, In commemoration of today's World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), AJI Indonesia calls for the government's responsibility to protect freedom of expression and press freedom. The absence of protection for freedom of expression and press freedom can jeopardize other human rights.

The theme of this year's WPFD global commemoration is "Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights". This year's commemoration also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the proclamation of May 3 as International Press Freedom Day by the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Press freedom is an important part of the freedom of expression enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

In addition, the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day in Indonesia coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Reformation. The 1998 Reformation was the moment when Soeharto's New Order authoritarian government collapsed, bringing Indonesia to a democratic government. The Human Rights Law and the Press Law were born in 1999, two important laws to guarantee the recognition and protection of human rights, including press freedom.

However, instead of moving forward, Indonesia's democracy is moving backward, marked by the use of several regulations to inhibit freedom of expression and press freedom. These include Law No. 1 of 1946, the Electronic Information and Transaction Law (ITE Law), Government Regulation No. 71 of 2019 and Minister of Communication and Information Regulation 5/2020 on Private Electronic System Operator, Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, as well as Law No. 6 of 2023 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation.

The ITE Law remains to be a harmful law for online journalists and critics on social media. AJI noted that since the ITE Law was born in 2008 and revised in 2016, at least 38 journalists have been reported under problematic articles in the ITE Law, with four of them imprisoned after being found guilty by the Court.

Attacks on journalists and independent media organizations never end. In 2022, AJI Indonesia recorded 61 cases of attacks, with 97 journalists becoming victims and 14 media organizations becoming targets. From January 2023 to April 30, 2023, there were 33 cases, an increase from 15 cases in the same period in 2022.

Human rights defenders and other critical groups have also been targeted for criminalization, digital attacks, disinformation, and various other delegitimization efforts for expressing their legitimate opinions and expressions online and offline.

In fact, freedom of expression and press freedom are supporting other human rights in Indonesia, which is dealing with the impacts of the climate crisis, economic inequality, corruption, polarization, violence against women and children, discrimination against vulnerable groups, and rampant information disruption.

"Press Freedom Day 2023 emphasizes that freedom of expression and press freedom are interdependent, interrelated, and inseparable from other human rights," said AJI Chairman Sasmito on May 2, 2023.

Given that background, AJI Indonesia urges:

1. The Government and the Indonesian Parliament to revoke and or cancel various regulations and problematic articles that hinder freedom of expression and press freedom, especially the ITE Law, PP 71/2019 and Permenkominfo 5/2020, the Job Creation Law, and the Criminal Code Law;
2. The President of Indonesia and the Chief of the Indonesian National Police to stop all cases of criminalization against journalists and human rights defenders for their journalistic work and legitimate expression;
3. The President of Indonesia and the Chief of the Indonesian National Police to transparently and independently investigate the cases of physical and digital attacks against journalists and human rights defenders;
4. The Government to establish a mechanism to protect human rights defenders, including journalists, by involving other relevant state institutions, the press community, and other independent civil societies;
5. Media owners not to intervene in newsrooms by not censoring journalistic works and critical opinions;
6. All journalists to comply with the Journalistic Code of Ethics, provide news space for those who cannot speak out, and prioritize public issues in all reporting.

Source: Attacks on Freedom of Expression and Press Freedom are Harmful… (aji.or.id)