Supreme Court Judge Hopeful's Rape Remark Sparks Anger

Jakarta Globe, January 14, 2013

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The Indonesian Child Protection Commission on Monday condemned Supreme Court Judge hopeful Daming Sunusi for his insensitive remarks about rape during a fit-and-proper-test at the parliament building in Senayan, Jakarta.

During the test, Andi Azhar, a lawmaker from the National Mandate Party, asked Daming’s opinion about sentencing rapists to death, to which he answered, “Both the rapist and the victim enjoy it. So, [we] have to think again about death sentence.”

“Has Daming felt what it’s like to be a [rape] victim [or a member of the victim’s] family? It’s extremely inappropriate for a Supreme Court judge hopeful to [joke about] the suffering of the people and their feelings,” the commission’s secretary, M. Ihsan, said in a statement, as reported by news portal detik.com.

The commission, known as KPAI, asked Daming to scrutinize the 2002 Law on Child Protection, particularly clauses that state any person who lies, tricks or persuades another to have sex is subject to receive anywhere from three to 15 years in jail.

“What if the rape victims were our children, our siblings or even our mothers?” Ihsan said.

In response to Daming’s remarks, Ihsan urged the House of Representatives not to pick Daming as a Supreme Court judge. He also asked the Supreme Court chief to discharge Daming from his position at Banjarmasin High Court.

After the test, Daming told reporters that his remarks were made to break the ice.

“I saw we [Supreme Court judge candidates] were too tense. [I made the remarks] to ease the tension. We had a brief laugh,” he said.

Himmatul Alyah Setiawati, a member of the House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees women’s empowerment, said that she took Daming’s remarks into consideration.

“Yes, his response is inappropriate. He is a senior judge who has been serving for 24 years,” Himmatul said.

On Monday, six Supreme Court judge candidates were interviewed by Commission III at the House of Representatives.

In total, the Judicial Commission submitted 24 Supreme Court judge hopefuls to parliament last week, and Commission III will interview six judges per day from Monday to Thursday of this week.

Sohaila Abdulali is the author of the novel "Year of the Tiger."

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