Australian students participating in the ACICIS and the Court’s international internship delivering their final presentations, Thursday (2/9/2023). Photo by MKRI.

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Thursday, February 9, 2023 | 15:56 WIB

JAKARTA (MKRI) — As the end of the internship at the Constitutional Court (MK) approached, five students who are part of the Australian Consortium for ‘In-Country’ Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) delivered their final presentation to Court officials and staff members on Thursday, February 9, 2023 at the meeting room of the Court’s second building. Juwariya Malik from UNSW Sydney, Cruz Spadaccini from Murdoch University, Ririka Stephenson from Griffith University, Stephanie Illiadis from the Australian National University, and Gwyn Roberts from Deakin University presented their final papers on various themes: religious freedom in Indonesia and Australia, an overview of climate change in relation to the Green Constitution, constitutional rights for asylum seekers and refugees, drugs and the death penalty, etc.

Before the presentation, Head of the AACC Permanent Secretariat and International Relations Department Sri Handayani delivered her remarks. She hoped the interns would have gain insights into the Indonesian legal system and judiciary.

“I am confident that today, at the end of the program, you all have understood more about the legal system in Indonesia, about court procedures, and gained a lot of insight not only from us but also from other institutions such as the Supreme Court, the National Commission on Human Rights, and the National Commission on Women. In addition, I am also confident that your individual abilities have also improved, especially the skills to interact with Indonesians and understand how things work here. This includes adapting to different climate, different cultures, and different types of cuisine. I am glad that all of you have successfully adapted to spicy Indonesian food. So, congratulations,” she said.

Juwariya Malik started her presentation on the protection of religious rights in Indonesia and Australia, by saying that the population of both countries embraces a variety of religions and beliefs and both countries have different constitutional and legal levels of protection of religious freedom and expression and against religious discrimination. She explained that Australia, a secular country, has better protection of human rights and religious freedom compared to Indonesia, a pluralistic country that has religious freedom but only to a certain extent, given the common practice of religious discrimination against minorities.

Although Indonesia has constitutionally guaranteed protection for religious minorities since 2017, she explained, implementation and compliance with these rights is not effective and requires increased awareness to prevent violations of rights of minorities, or those embracing indigenous beliefs. She concluded that Indonesia must learn from Australia by increasing interreligious cooperation initiatives, and Australia must learn from Indonesia by incorporating legally guaranteed protection of religious freedom to protect the religious minorities. While both countries are signatories to the UDHR and ICCPR, which guarantee protection of religious rights and freedom, in practice, both countries implement protection and promotion of religious freedom and expressions through very different mechanisms.

Gwyn Roberts stated in his presentation that the death penalty for drug users and dealers is not applicable in Australia because it is considered inhumane and does not have a deterrent effect, whereas Indonesia still implements it as part of its anti-drugs policy, which is necessary to combat its drug crisis. “In Indonesia, drug trafficking is an extraordinary crime,” he said.

The five Australian students began their internship on January 5. In addition to learning how the Constitutional Court works, they also visited several government institutions, such as the National Commission on Human Rights, the National Commission on Women, and ASEAN.

Writer        : Ammar Soaloon Rambe/LA
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Azzahra Salsabilla/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 2/14/2023 10:08 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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