House to rule on right to protest<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie agreed yesterday that the
\nHouse of Representatives (DPR) would have the final say on the
\ngovernment regulation in lieu of a law on \"freedom of expression\"
\nwhich he signed last Friday.<\/p>\n
Minister of Information Muhammad Yunus, briefing the media
\nafter a 5-hour cabinet meeting on political affairs and security
\nyesterday, said the government would submit the decree to the
\nHouse for approval within three months.<\/p>\n
\"(Only) if the regulation is rejected by the House will the
\ngovernment change it,\" Yunus said at the Bina Graha presidential
\noffice.<\/p>\n
According to the 17 article regulation, a police permit is
\nrequired if a demonstration involves more than 50 people. Street
\nprotests are also banned around the presidential palaces,
\nmilitary installations, and other vital locations.<\/p>\n
The president's decision has sparked anger among observers --
\nsome called the regulation an infringement of the very principle
\nof freedom of expression.<\/p>\n
Separately, Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces
\n(ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto expounded his conviction that only
\na thin line divided demonstrations from rioting, which was why
\nregulations were necessary.<\/p>\n
He said mass anarchy could easily be sparked off by one or two
\npeople during large demonstrations.<\/p>\n
\"At present, demonstrations in Indonesia are among the most
\nunregulated in the world because the number of participants or
\nlocation is not restricted in any way,\" he said before attending
\nthe cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n
The general said there was no nation in the world which had
\nabsolute freedom.<\/p>\n
Quoting the Constitution, he said: \"The freedom to assemble
\nand to express verbal and written opinion is regulated by the
\nlaw.\"<\/p>\n
Wiranto further noted that in recent demonstrations it was
\nunclear who the leaders were and what their demands were.<\/p>\n
Democracy<\/p>\n
Separately, human rights activists again demanded that the
\ngovernment revoke the regulation, saying it hampered
\ndemocratization.<\/p>\n
Human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said the regulation was
\nagainst the principles of human rights, which were guaranteed by
\nthe 1945 Constitution and a number of international treaties and
\nconventions.<\/p>\n
He also objected to Minister of Justice Muladi's recent
\nstatement that the United Nations declaration on human rights
\nallowed the observance of human rights to be subject to national
\nlaws.<\/p>\n
\"The (declaration) enables the regulation of human rights
\nwithin national legal systems, not in the context of restricting
\nthem but as way of reaffirming them,\" Todung said.<\/p>\n
\"I demand the House reject the regulation. Otherwise this will
\nrepresent a setback and a sin committed by this regime toward the
\nprinciples of human rights,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The same call was made by members of the respected Indonesian
\nLegal Aid Foundation.<\/p>\n
\"The decree is clearly part of the government's attempt to
\nrestrict the freedom of expression,\" M.M. Billah from the
\nCommunity for Participatory Social Management, a division of the
\nfoundation, said in a statement delivered at a media briefing
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The group also criticized the government for not involving the
\nHouse and the public before issuing the decree.<\/p>\n
\"The way the regulation was issued was government trickery to
\nprevent public debate,\" the statement said, further accusing
\nPresident B.J. Habibie's administration of employing an approach
\nsimilar to former president Soeharto's administration, which is
\nnotorious for quashing freedom of expression in the name of
\nstability.<\/p>\n
A member of the National Commission on Human Rights,
\nKoesparmono Irsan, said from Bandung in West Java that he
\nregretted the regulation had been issued by the government while
\nthe House was in recess. (prb\/rms\/byg\/43)<\/p>",
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