New broadcast bill kills press freedom<\/p>\n
Abdullah Alamudi, Instructor, Dr. Soetomo Press Institute,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia's newly won press freedom is now in limbo as the
\nbroadcast bill -- nearly at its final reading at the House of
\nRepresentatives -- will prevent local radio and TV stations from
\nrelaying foreign-made news, thus curbing the public's right to
\ninformation.<\/p>\n
The provision of the bill turns the clock back nearly 40 years
\nto 1964 when President Sukarno, during the height of Indonesia's
\nconfrontation with Malaysia, banned the public from listening to
\nforeign broadcasts.<\/p>\n
A member of the Indonesian Broadcast Society (MPI) describes
\nthe bill as "more fascist than the occupying Japanese military's
\nregulations".<\/p>\n
Article 27 (2) of the bill states: "The relay of broadcasts
\nwhich are used as permanent programs, both of domestic origin as
\nwell as from abroad, are limited".<\/p>\n
An explanatory note of the article says: "What is meant by
\nlimited in article 27 (2) is that domestic broadcasting
\ninstitutions may relay programs from foreign countries except
\nnews, music programs whose performances are improper and sports
\nprograms that display sadism."<\/p>\n
If the bill is passed with the provisions, it clearly will
\nviolate article XIX of the UN Declaration on Human Rights, which
\nguarantees the right of every human being to seek for, to receive
\nand to convey information.<\/p>\n
It also contradicts Articles 4 and 5 of the Press Law No.
\n40\/1999, since banning private television stations and radio
\nstations from broadcasting news from foreign stations amounts to
\ncensorship.<\/p>\n
Article 4 of the Press Law states that there should be no
\ncensorship, closing down or banning of broadcasts from the
\nnational press.<\/p>\n
Article 5 (1) stipulates: "The national press is obliged to
\nreport news and opinions respecting religious norms and the
\npublic's sense of moral values and the presumption of innocence."<\/p>\n
Since Article 27 of the broadcast bill violates Article XIX of
\nthe UN Declaration on Human Rights, it is only fair for all
\ndemocracy-loving nations of the world to exert some kind of
\npressure on the Indonesian government to immediately back off
\nfrom such repressive laws.<\/p>\n
Indonesian donor countries in particular should review their
\npositions as far as providing economic and military assistance to
\nthe government if the bill is passed.<\/p>\n
If the Indonesian media -- both print and electronic -- fail
\nto unite now, and right now, and show their solidarity against
\nthe provision of Article 27 of the bill, they will soon be
\nwitnessing the process of the large scale deception of the
\npeople.<\/p>\n
In addition, the Indonesian press will never become the fourth
\nestate in this country because they will be a party to the
\ndeception process.<\/p>\n
Point 2 of Article 27 of the bill was added at the Working
\nCommittee (Panja) meeting on August 24, amending the result of
\nthe Panja the day before.<\/p>\n
Panja comprises House members, representatives of the
\ngovernment, radio and television station associations,
\nbroadcasting societies and NGO's.<\/p>\n
At the August 23, Panja meeting, a certain participant accused
\nsome local radio stations of becoming "the kiosks" of foreign
\nbroadcasting organizations. He did not name the stations but a
\nnumber of private local radio stations relay or rebroadcast news
\nand music programs from abroad through their networks across the
\nnation.<\/p>\n
They mostly rebroadcast news from the British Broadcasting
\nCorporations (BBC), The Voice of America (VOA), and ABC\/Radio
\nAustralia. The same three stations were among the foreign
\nbroadcasting institutions that Indonesians were banned from
\nlistening to under Sukarno, President Megawati's father.<\/p>\n
Apart from state-owned radio stations RRI there are now more
\nthan 1,100 privately-owned radio stations in the country, a jump
\nfrom 740 in 1997 at the end of Soeharto's 32-year rule. Between
\nthen and now the number of privately-owned television stations
\nalso increased to 10 from five, besides state-owned TVRI.
\nPrivately-owned provincial TV stations, which were undreamed of
\nduring the Soeharto era, now total 15 and the numbers are
\nincreasing following the enactment of regional autonomy.<\/p>\n
The bill is now in the hands of the formulating team (Timus)
\nwho will present their work to the special committee (Pansus)
\nbefore parliament puts its final stamp on it during a plenary
\nsession on September 29.<\/p>\n
The existing formal organizational and regulatory structure of
\nthe Indonesian bureaucracy has already make it hard enough for
\nthe media to report and broadcast the news without the presence
\nof Article 27.<\/p>\n
There are at least 35 articles in the Penal Code, including
\ndraconian articles 154, 155, 156 and 157 that can be used against
\nthe media and journalists. The last four articles, a.k.a.
\nhartzaai-artikelen (spreading hatred), were introduced by the
\nDutch colonialists in 1915 to stop the press from promoting any
\nideas of a free and independent Indonesia. The articles, however,
\nwere found nowhere in the Dutch Penal Code despite the fact that
\nthe Indonesian Penal Code was copied from the Dutch.<\/p>\n
The Press Council says other laws they consider hamper press
\nfreedom in Indonesian, include the laws on companies, the
\nprotection of consumers, antimonopoly, bankruptcy, archives,
\ncopyright and the forthcoming state emergency law and the law on
\nstate secrets.<\/p>",
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