Indonesian
Province May Tag People With HIV

Lawmakers in Indonesia's Papua province are supporting a bill that would mandate implantation of microchip tracking devices into some people with HIV. Supporting legislator John Manasang said Saturday that implanting the chips beneath the skin of "sexually aggressive" HIV-positive people would help authorities monitor those with the virus and punish those who transmit it, according to the Associated Press.

The bill, which is expected to win a majority, would be implemented as soon as January.

Indonesia has one of Asia's fastest-growing HIV-positive populations. Out of 235 million people, as many as 290,000 Indonesians are infected with the virus. In Papua the infection rate is 15 times more than the national average.

Since the controversial plan was proposed, the bill has been adjusted to say the chips would be implanted only in "sexually aggressive" people, without defining who would be included in that group.

Nancy Fee, a country coordinator with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, said the move could be detrimental to human rights and public health.

"No one should be subject to unlawful or unnecessary interference of privacy," she told the AP.

Human Rights Watch released a statement Wednesday asking lawmakers to reject the bill when it comes up for a vote.

"This misguided and abusive plan is an offense to everyone -- living with HIV or not," said Human Rights Watch's Joseph Amon. "Being infected with HIV should not be a crime, and requiring people living with HIV to be implanted with microchips violates the rights to privacy and dignity in the most fundamental way." (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)