MPR scuttles press freedom<\/p>\n
By Atmakusumah<\/p>\n
This is the second of two articles on the aborted attempt by
\nIndonesian journalists to ensure press freedom in the country.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The 1,000-strong People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPR) concluded its Special Session without taking the
\nopportunity to contemplate the meaning of the tireless efforts of
\nthe press community and the public at large to shed the chains
\nthat have shackled press freedom for the past 254 years.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, some proposals from the Indonesian Press Society
\n(MPI) did go into the MPR decree on human rights.<\/p>\n
The proposals come under Section VI: The Right of Freedom to
\nInformation. Article 20: Every person has a right to communicate
\nand obtain information to develop one's individual self and
\nsocial environment. Article 21: Every person has the right to
\nseek, obtain, own, store, process and disseminate information by
\nall available channels.<\/p>\n
Also under Section X: Protection and Advancement, which
\ncontains Article 42: The right of citizens to communicate and to
\nobtain information is guaranteed and protected.<\/p>\n
Now is the right time for Indonesia to shed the shackles that
\nbind press freedom, especially when neighboring countries and the
\ninternational community recognize that press freedom in Indonesia
\nhas blossomed since Soeharto stepped down as president on May 21.<\/p>\n
This recognition apparently has motivated a number of press
\norganizations from North America and Thailand -- which has gained
\npress freedom -- to invite the participation of independent press
\norganizations from Indonesia and the Philippines in the Southeast
\nAsian Press Alliance (SEAPA).<\/p>\n
SEAPA was set up at a Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 meeting in Bangkok.
\nIts secretariat is scheduled to be inaugurated in the city on May
\n3, 1999 coinciding with World Press Freedom Day. The aim of SEAPA
\nis to promote and protect press freedom in Southeast Asia and to
\nmonitor threats to journalists and press freedom in the nine
\ncountries of ASEAN and Cambodia. The effort to maintain the press
\nfreedom now enjoyed by Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia
\nhopefully could encourage press freedom in other Southeast Asian
\ncountries as well.<\/p>\n
The objective of SEAPA is similar to the program of the
\nCommittee to Protect Indonesian Journalists the MPI set up in
\nJakarta on Nov. 4. The committee intends to help in overcoming
\nconstraints news people face in their journalistic work in the
\nfield as part of their public service.<\/p>\n
The problems in press freedom and the flow of information have
\ndrawn greater attention from mass media practitioners of
\nSoutheast Asia today. In an Oct. 29 to Oct. 31 meeting at Subic
\nFreeport, the Philippines, journalists from nine Southeast Asian
\ncountries, including Indonesia, focused on the obstacles to a
\nfree press. These include state control, media ownership
\nconcentration, repressive legislation, licensing and physical
\nthreats.<\/p>\n
The participants of that meeting urged journalists to \"expose
\ninfringements on press freedom and develop mechanisms to protect
\njournalists\". They also stated: \"We see the need, in particular,
\nto expose the complete lack of press and other freedoms in
\nMyanmar.\"<\/p>\n
The Subic conferees underscored that \"at a time of crisis and
\nrapid change in Southeast Asia, a free press plays an
\nincreasingly crucial role to inform citizens\".<\/p>\n
Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, at the SEAPA founding
\nconference in Bangkok, stressed that such issues as greater
\ntransparency, openness, human rights and press freedom would
\ndominate the agenda of Southeast Asian societies well into the
\nnext century. He is convinced that a free press is the best
\nguarantee for sustaining reform and forcing accountability in the
\npublic and private sectors.<\/p>\n
Newspapers are owned by individuals and corporations, but
\nfreedom of the press belongs to the people, Surin said. \"It is
\ntherefore the duty of each member of society not only to
\nsafeguard the freedom of the press, but also to ensure the safety
\nof its practitioners.\"<\/p>\n
In Surin's view, \"freedom is indivisible. It is all or none.\"<\/p>\n
The writer is a former managing editor of Indonesia Raya, a
\ncrusading daily the Soeharto government banned in 1974. He is now
\nexecutive director of the Jakarta-based Dr. Soetomo Press
\nInstitute. The above article is translated by Warief Djajanto;
\nthe Indonesian version appears in D&R (Detektif dan Romantika)
\nweekly magazine on Tuesday.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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