Security bill could meet defiant public<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA, Central Java (JP): More reactions over the
\ndrafting of the state security bill were expressed on Friday by
\nscholars here.<\/p>\n
Lambang Triono, a sociologist at the Central Study for Peace
\nand Security (PSKP) said the bill would provoke public
\nresistance.<\/p>\n
\"They are fighting for freedom from fear, so they won't comply
\nwith it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that the military lost its credibility as a peace
\nmediator after it ended operations last year in Aceh. A
\nmilitaristic approach would therefore not solve any problems, he
\nsaid, citing violence among residents in Maluku and West
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces
\nCommander Gen. Wiranto said on Friday that the government agreed
\nto the legislators' stance that changes in the draft bill would
\ninclude the need to consult President-appointed bodies on
\nsecurity prior to an announcement of a state of emergency.
\nLegislators have said such an announcement needs prior consulting
\nwith the law-making body.<\/p>\n
Rights activists in Jakarta have urged civil disobedience amid
\nsigns that the bill will go through.<\/p>\n
M. Mahfud, a lecturer on state administration, said in
\nYogyakarta that ratification of the bill would be \"reckless\" and
\nwould foster more suspicion toward the intentions of the
\nmilitary.<\/p>\n
He said the draft bill proves that the military is not ready
\nto terminate its nondefense role. He reiterated earlier demands
\nthat legislators stop deliberation and leave it for the new
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
In Irian Jaya, students rejected the government-sponsored bill
\non state security on Thursday, saying it would grant excessive
\npower to the military and the government in the event of
\nperceived threats to the state.<\/p>\n
Daniel Randongkir, a coordinator of Irianese Students for
\nHuman Rights said that once the bill was endorsed, rights abuses
\nwould increase in Irian Jaya and across the country.<\/p>\n
Even without such a bill, \"many Irianese have been massacred
\nlike animals by security personnel during 36 years of
\nintegration\" with Indonesia, Daniel said.<\/p>\n
\"So if the bill is endorsed, the military will have a
\njustification to intimidate, torture, arrest and even kill
\nanybody, resulting in mounting rights abuses,\" Daniel said.<\/p>\n
Vocal Irianese have always been charged with being separatists
\nor members of disturbance groups which justified such actions, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Though undeclared, \"a state of emergency has always existed in
\nIrian Jaya,\" he said, citing similar conditions in East Timor and
\nAceh. (44\/34\/05\/06\/edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/security-bill-could-meet-defiant-public-1447893297",
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