CRPD
Rights Tracker
Reports
(Art. 5) Equality and non-discrimination
(Art. 5) Equality and non-discrimination
List of Issue
Please provide information on:
The measures taken to ensure that discrimination laws at all levels of
government adhere to the Convention, taking account of the Committee’s general comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination, to provide equal and effective legal protection for persons with disabilities against all forms of discrimination on all grounds, including multiple and intersectional discrimination and the denial of reasonable accommodation in the public and private spheres;
The types of remedies and redress provided, including any forms of
reparation and compensation applied, in the Supreme Court and regional courts;
The number and percentage of claims of discrimination based on disability,
disaggregated by sex, age, geographical location and sector in which the discrimination occurred, and the number and percentage of cases that resulted in sanctions.
Alternative Reports
DPOs Coalition Report (OHANA)
Article 2 of Law No. 8/2016 affirms the principles of non-discrimination and equality in the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities. The right to freedom from discrimination is also a component of the rights held by persons with disabilities (Article 5 of Law 8/2016), including the right to obtain employment provided by the government and private sector (Articles 11 and 45), to receive public services (Article 19), and is even stipulated in a special section in Chapter Twenty-Two of this Law. Articles 144 and 145 of this Law also affirm sanctions for anyone who takes action or hinders the enjoyment of rights by persons with disabilities.
However, in practice, the Law does not clearly regulate the prohibition of discrimination and the provision of sanctions for violators. Since this Law was passed, there has been no mechanism for implementing sanctions for perpetrators of discrimination or those who violate the rights of persons with disabilities. This is why the situation for persons with disabilities has not changed much; discrimination and unequal treatment still occur frequently.
This is reflected in the implementation of inclusive schools, for example, even though this program has been implemented by the government nationally with a number of school piloting projects, it has not been able to significantly increase access to education for persons with disabilities (PWDs). There are still cases of children with intellectual disabilities being discriminated against from entering schools, even schools designated as inclusive schools. This is because inclusive schools still require an IQ test to be accepted, while the test results for these children are often low. Consequently, schools use the IQ test results as a reason to reject the child.
Response List of Issue (Coalition/OHANA)
Government Regulation Number 70 of 2019 Concerning Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation of the Respect, Protection, and Fulfillment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as the Implementing Regulation for Law No. 8 of 2016 Concerning Persons with Disabilities is the Indonesian government's master plan related to the respect, protection, and fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities. Specifically, this Government Regulation has the Vision of the RIPD (Master Plan for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) to “realize equality of rights and opportunities in all fields for Persons with Disabilities.” This Government Regulation has included the principle of non-discrimination for persons with disabilities, including in the implementation strategies:
Ensuring Minimum Service Standards indicators comply with the principle of non-discrimination and reasonable accommodation to create a barrier-free environment for persons with disabilities.
Ensuring inclusivity for Persons with Disabilities in every stage of general election implementation without discrimination to increase political access and justice for persons with disabilities.
Including non-discrimination and inclusivity criteria in documents, and carrying out periodic supervision to schools to guarantee the fulfillment of education and skills for persons with disabilities.
Nevertheless, a number of challenges related to equality and non-discrimination are still quite significant and need to be immediately addressed by the Government, including in the aspects of:
The low level of understanding and awareness of the public, including government officials, regarding the rights of persons with disabilities, which causes persons with disabilities to still frequently experience discrimination and to be viewed as second-class citizens. These negative views often prevent persons with disabilities from receiving fair, equal, and non-discriminatory services.
Women with disabilities are still vulnerable to being victims of violence and discrimination, whether committed by the public, government officials, the environment, or family. HWDI noted in its 2020 research report that, after sexual violence, discrimination was the second highest case experienced by women with disabilities in Indonesia (i.e., 20% of a total of 142 incidents of violence).
The strong stigma against persons with disabilities and doubts about their capabilities persist, leading many state institutions, educational institutions, and private parties to include the requirement of physical and mental health in job selection or registration processes. Even a number of universities still include this requirement, which means persons with disabilities cannot administratively pass the registration.
The lack of clarity regarding the State's affirmative efforts or policies, which results in many state ministries and institutions refusing to provide the specificity of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. The absence of a clear framework regarding affirmative reasonable accommodation prevents well-intended regulations or rules from being achieved, such as the target of 2% of disabled workers as Civil Servants (ASN) and 1% for the private sector.
Strengthening the protection of persons with disabilities through regulations at the regional level is often inconsistent with the principles of the CRPD, among other things, by largely using a charity perspective and not involving organizations of persons with disabilities. This happened in Maluku, where the Ambon City Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) ratified a Regional Regulation regarding disability through a Regional Regulation on Persons with Social Welfare Problems.
Although various regulations, including Law No. 8 of 2016 Concerning Persons with Disabilities, affirm the prohibition of discrimination against persons with disabilities, not a single regulation provides sanctions, either criminal or administrative, for discriminatory treatment experienced by persons with disabilities. This complicates and hinders the resolution of discrimination cases experienced by persons with disabilities, both at the central and regional levels. Consequently, not many persons with disabilities who are victims of discrimination or violence receive compensation. There are only a few civil cases where compensation was awarded because the assistant or lawyer included the aspect of compensation for discriminatory action in the lawsuit, such as the South Jakarta District Court's Decision in the case of Dwi Ariyani who was refused boarding by Ettihad Airways.
In a case that occurred in Riau, a woman with a disability experienced sexual violence by several people, then was given monetary compensation with a resolution carried out at the police level, not through judicial proceedings. Another case that is still common is related to school refusal of children with disabilities, even though the school has the status of an inclusive school.
Meanwhile, the Government also does not yet have data related to the number and percentage of discrimination claims experienced by persons with disabilities, whether in the criminal, civil, or other justice systems.
Response List of Issue (HWDI)
Indonesia does not have a specific anti-discrimination law, so even though Law 8/2018 includes non-discrimination as one of its principles, discriminatory policies and practices based on disability continue. This is reflected in discriminatory policies or practices against women with disabilities, such as discrimination during the job selection process that requires mental and physical health, as well as discrimination in the sense of the absence of affirmative action by the State to ensure that people with disabilities can be in a position equal to non-disabled people.
Even though Law 8/2016 includes sanctions, namely Articles 144 and 145, in practice, these two Articles cannot be implemented. Meanwhile, there is no independent monitoring and evaluation mechanism related to the protection and fulfillment of the rights of women with disabilities, including an effective complaint and case handling mechanism.
Regarding discriminatory regulations, the Government of Indonesia also does not yet have an inventory list of regulations that are still discriminatory against women with disabilities, as well as a clear and measurable plan for the process of their revision and harmonization to comply with the CRPD.
[ADDITIONAL] In local level, numbers of adopted local regulations haven’t yet firming the rights of women and children with disabilities. Based on the data provided by HWDI, only seven (7) out of twentyfour (24) local regulations on disabilities are having the perspective of women with disabilities. While monitoring conducted by CIQAL stated that up until 2016, two (2) out of five (5) regencies/cities in Yogyakarta that already developed the local regulation on disabilities eliminated the aspect of women and children protections 2016.
List of Issue
Are there concrete steps that have been taken to collect data on regulations that are still discriminatory and harmonize these regulations to comply with the CRPD?
What are the steps taken by the Indonesian government to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women with disabilities, including imposing sanctions on violators as stipulated in Articles 144 and 145 of Law 8/2016?
Committee Recommendations
Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention, the Committee recalls its general comment No. 6 (2018) and targets 10.2 and 10.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals and recommends that the State party adopt measures to harmonize legislation at the national, provincial, city/municipal, and sub-district levels to ensure comprehensive and uniform protection for all persons with disabilities from all forms of discrimination and to ensure the right to action and access to remedies.
ⓘ Indicators
Efforts to ratify OP CRPD