Indon doctors oppose chemical castration
Lauren Farrow and Heru Rahadi - AAP on June 14, 2016, 12:57 pm
Indonesia's doctors have hit out at plans to chemically castrate child sex offenders, saying providing such treatment is against their oath as physicians, and does nothing to treat the root cause of the problem.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo gave immediate power to Indonesia's courts to enact harsher penalties towards convicted child sex offenders last month, including enacting the death penalty and chemical castration in certain circumstances.
But the Indonesian Medical Association, Ikatan Dokter Indonesia (IDI), spoke out this month against the changes saying that while sexual violence against children was an "extraordinary crime", they cannot carry out chemical castration.
"A physician takes an oath to cure people, not to make people suffer. If we do chemical castration, that would make someone suffer.
With that, he would violate his oath and the oath is one thing even laws cannot force," Dr Nugroho Setiawan from IDI told AAP.
He also questioned the use of medication to lower a man's testosterone in order to reduce sexual desire, saying its effectiveness was doubtful and was often accompanied by harsh side effects.
There were also other factors that fuelled offending behaviour which the government has overlooked, he said.
"Psychological treatment is more important and it is more important (to investigate) his education, his religious education, his life management ... If we cut it (the problem) in the middle but we don't deal with its root cause, offending will keep on happening," Dr Nugroho said.
The government regulation came in the wake of 14-year-old Yuyun's rape and death. Her battered and bound body was found near her school in Bengkulu, Sumatra in April after she was gang raped and strangled, police say.
In response to the outrage that followed the case, President Jokowi said Indonesia was in a state of "emergency" over crime against children and issued a regulation - known as a perpu.
This meant it did not have to go through parliament before becoming immediately effective, however it will need to pass the house in order for it to become law.
Dr Nugroho said doctors were not consulted before the perpu was issued but hope to have a say when it comes before parliament.
"The problem is maybe they (the government) were in a hurry (when issuing the perpu), facing an emotional situation," he said.
The perpu has also come under attack from human rights groups who described it as a populist move by President Jokowi.
Haris Azhar of rights group KontraS has previously told AAP the government has not been able to produce any evidence to suggest the country was facing an "emergency" of sexual violence against children, nor that harsher penalties will prevent offending.
The term "emergency" has also been used to justify the executions of drug traffickers with little evidence of its effect, he said.
