Security bill needs public aspiration<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Experts and the House of Representatives (DPR)
\nagreed here on Tuesday of the need to accommodate public
\naspiration and revise the controversial, government-sponsored
\nbill on state security, which some observers have called
\noppressive.<\/p>\n
The House commission deliberating the state security bill
\ninvited three scholars to give their opinions of the bill. The
\nexperts were presidential military adviser Sayidiman
\nSuryohadiprojo, Police Staff College dean Awaloedin Djamin and
\nNazarudin Syamsudin of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.<\/p>\n
Sayidiman said Indonesia needed a state security act which
\nrespected the people's interests. "A state security law is still
\nneeded because threats of national disintegration are mainly
\nlocal in nature and in the form of subversion," he read from a
\nprepared speech.<\/p>\n
"In the future, it would be unlikely for open war to occur,"
\nSayidiman said, citing the example of the rivalry between the
\nUnited States and the former Soviet Union which never resulted in
\nopen hostilities.<\/p>\n
"A state security law endorsed by a DPR representing the
\npeople will give a legal basis for the military to take necessary
\nactions to accommodate the people's interest," Sayidiman said.<\/p>\n
Nazarudin questioned the timing of the state security bill,
\nwith the current House scheduled to end its term on Sept. 24.<\/p>\n
Awaloedin, a former National Police chief, discussed the
\nconsequences of such a law. He said declaring a state of
\nemergency in Aceh would have been preferable to the undefined
\nmilitary operations which took place in the province for 10
\nyears.<\/p>\n
"It was a mistake not to declare a state of emergency in Aceh,
\nwhich meant the troops had no legal basis for their actions,"
\nAwaloedin said.<\/p>\n
Had the 1959 State of Emergency Law, which will be revoked
\nwith the introduction of the new state security bill, been
\nimplemented in Aceh, soldiers would have known who their enemies
\nwere and victims of violence could have been declared victims of
\nwar, he said.<\/p>\n
Nazarudin said the state security bill was harsher than
\ngovernment decree No. 23\/1959, which will also be replaced by the
\nbill. "The bill appears to be complete. It encompasses the
\n(approaches of) the New Order, Old Order and the colonial era,"
\nhe said, adding such a bill was a setback for the country.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin's opinion was contradictory to that of Minister of
\nJustice Muladi, who said the bill was not as harsh as the 1959
\ndecree.<\/p>\n
"A declaration of a state of emergency could lead to
\nunpredictable risks," Nazarudin said.<\/p>\n
Then president Sukarno declared a state of emergency in 1957
\nand imposed the so-called Guided Democracy, which was followed in
\n1960 by his becoming a dictator, he said.<\/p>\n
Nazarudin was referring to Article 20 of the new bill, which
\nstipulates the president holds the highest power in declaring a
\nstate of emergency or martial law.<\/p>\n
"Once the bill is endorsed, we will repeat what happened in
\nAceh and Irian. We did not know what was really happening there,"
\nNazarudin said.<\/p>\n
He said an undeclared state of emergency existed in Aceh when
\nthe military operations were launched there in 1989.<\/p>\n
Nazarudin admitted the importance of replacing the 1959
\ndecree. However, he said new legislation must not enable the
\nsuppression and violation of human rights, concluding the current
\nbill on state security must be revised.<\/p>\n
The spokesman for the United Development Party (PPP) faction
\nin the House, Hussein Umar, said the state security bill "had a
\nNew Order spirit. No wonder people are suspicious of the bill".<\/p>\n
The spokesman for the Indonesian Military faction in the
\nHouse, Taufik Ruky, said if the bill was rejected, "the
\ngovernment would still be able to use the tougher decree No.
\n23\/1959 if it wished to declare a state of emergency". (05)<\/p>",
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