PENERAPAN PIDANA MATI TERHADAP PELAKU TINDAK PIDANA TERORISME DITINJAU DARI PERSPEKTIF HAK ASASI MANUSIA

Abstract

Terrorism constitutes an extraordinary crime that causes mass casualties and threatens state security, leading lawmakers to threaten the death penalty as one of the sanctions against its perpetrators. However, the existence of the death penalty frequently generates debate from a human rights perspective, particularly concerning the status of the right to life as a non-derogable right. This research aims to analyze two main issues: first, how the imposition of the death penalty against perpetrators of terrorism is regulated under Indonesian legislation; and second, how the imposition of the death penalty is examined from a human rights perspective. This research employs a normative legal research method using statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches. The findings indicate that the threat of the death penalty against perpetrators of terrorism is regulated under Article 6 and Article 10A of Law Number 5 of 2018 in an alternative, rather than mandatory, manner. Following the enactment of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the National Penal Code (KUHP Nasional) on 2 January 2026, the status of the death penalty shifted from a principal punishment to a special punishment, accompanied by a ten-year probationary mechanism that, in principle, also applies to death sentences in terrorism cases. Compared to Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia's regulatory framework is relatively more progressive. From a human rights perspective, the threat of the death penalty against terrorism can be justified through the doctrine of limitation of human rights and Constitutional Court Decision Number 2-3/PUU-V/2007, provided it is applied selectively to the most serious crimes and accompanied by adequate procedural safeguards, including the probationary mechanism as a concrete manifestation of human rights protection. This research concludes that the regulation and imposition of the death penalty against perpetrators of terrorism in Indonesia reflect a balance between firm law enforcement and respect for human rights, although its implementation still requires the strengthening of technical guidelines and institutional readiness.