Antiterrorism Law<\/p>\n
Only a few days before the horrible Bali tragedy occurred,
\nnoted human rights activists Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nand Advocacy Association and Daniel Pandjaitan of the Indonesian
\nLegal Aid Institute "urged the government not to rush to endorse
\nthe (antiterrorism) bill".<\/p>\n
Hendardi said, "I don't see the relevance yet, as we have not
\nyet suffered from the terrorist acts described in the bill" (he
\nobviously forgot terrorist acts like the Christmas bombings and
\nthe bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange. His fellow activist
\nDaniel Pandjaitan echoed, "...consider it (the antiterrorism
\ndraft law) and endorse it in the next three to five years" (The
\nJakarta Post, Oct. 9, 2002).<\/p>\n
Immediately after the Bali bombings, the government could, at
\nlast, enact the Antiterrorism Law.<\/p>\n
I would like to remind those activists that first, since
\nSoeharto's resignation in May 1998, the political situation in
\nIndonesia has changed dramatically. Nowadays, security
\nauthorities are confronted with unprecedented terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
Second, many control mechanisms are in place that will take
\ncare of any abuse of a stricter Antiterrorism Law, for instance
\nnumerous NGOs, student activists, human rights organizations and
\nthe media!<\/p>\n
Third, it seems that human rights activists are only concerned
\nabout the rights of alleged terrorists. But what about the
\nhundreds and thousands of victims of terrorist attacks, those who
\nwere killed, who lost their husbands, wives or children, who lost
\ntheir jobs, and who live in a state of constant fear, traumatized
\nby their ordeal -- don't they have rights too?<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri should not listen anymore to
\nthose who, for too long, insisted "There are no terrorists here",
\nand to those with a know-it-all attitude, but should listen
\ninstead to the ordinary people, who are fed up with being
\nvictimized by terrorism.<\/p>\n
One can only hope and pray that the government will not have
\nto regret its decision to drop the proposal to adopt the ISA
\n(Internal Security Act). Megawati's rivals would only be too
\nhappy to blame her for not having done enough to counter
\nterrorism when there was still time.<\/p>\n
HILDE MAY
\nJakarta<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/antiterrorism-law-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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