Citizenship bill accused of bias against women
By: M. Taufiqurrahman

July 4, 2006 – (The Jakarta Post) The rehashed bill on citizenship has been criticized by a coalition of non-governmental organizations for allowing discrimination against women and endangering their rights. The Network for Pro-women National Legislation Program said the latest draft of the soon-to-be-passed bill was rife with conditions that would leave women vulnerable to losing their citizenship.

The network's biggest cause for concern is Article 26, which stipulates that a female spouse will lose her citizenship once she marries someone of foreign nationality. It said that the term contradicts a general principle that prohibits the revocation of citizenship because of marriage. "This is discrimination against women, as a wife should not involuntarily lose her citizenship, aside from it being of her own free will," the coalition said in a statement. There is no similar condition for Indonesian men marrying foreign women. The Amended 1945 Constitution, 1999 Human Rights Law and 1984 Law on the Eradication of Discrimination against Women have disallowed discrimination based on marriage.

The coalition also lamented another stipulation in the bill which states that Indonesian citizens living abroad will lose their citizenship if they fail to renew their passport in a period of five years. "This will deal a severe blow to thousands of our female migrant workers who work abroad," it said. A passport was only a travel document that was not tantamount to citizenship, the coalition said. "A lapse in administrative matters should not result in the revocation of one's citizenship," it stated.

With all the shortcomings, the coalition, comprising among others members of the Women's Institute, the National Commission on Violence Against Women, the Center for Electoral Reform, Puan Amal Hayati and the Asia Foundation, called on the House to drop the articles that would put women's rights at risk. Their demands are unlikely to be heard as the House is wrapping up its deliberations. A working committee has concluded revising the final draft of the bill and is expected to hand over its result to a special committee before it is endorsed by a House plenary session. Members of the special committee expect the bill to be endorsed in mid July.

Others have hailed the bill as a landmark achievement in the country's legal system because it recognizes dual citizenship, although on a limited scale for children of transnational marriages up to their 18th birthday. Special committee member Nursyahbani Katjasungkana of the National Awakening Party (PKB), a women's rights advocate and qualified lawyer, acknowledged the revocation of citizenship for women marrying foreigners was outdated and discriminatory. "A survey carried out in 122 countries found that such a principle is no longer applied," she said.

From: http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060704.B08