ABRI defends legislation on subversion
ABRI defends legislation on subversion
JAKARTA (JP): The newly-installed assistant to the Armed
Forces Chief of socio-political affairs, Brig. Gen. Suwarno
Adiwijoyo, defended the controversial anti-subversive law
yesterday.
Amidst the efforts of some in society to have the No. 11, 1963
law revoked for trampling on people's basic rights, Suwarno said
that the law is still necessary because the existing Criminal
Code does not cover sanctions for subversive activities.
He also rejected the view that the law restricts the public's
freedom. "The anti-subversive law remains valid until a new law
dealing with subversion is established," he said.
He pointed out that revoking a law without replacing it would
create holes in the legal system, a condition which may endanger
the country's security and survival.
The drive to have the anti-subversive law revoked is being
spearheaded by the National Commission on Human Rights. It called
late last year for a review on laws which were produced decades
ago, and are no longer relevant.
The commission has also embarked on the legal review mission
of its own. It is examining the anti-subversive law first, which
it considers contradictory to a democratic legal system and
ignores the people's aspirations.
The commission's deputy chairman, Marzuki Darusman, said there
are articles in the law which violate people's basic rights. He
argued that the Criminal Code, known by its local acronym of
KUHP, already has adequate provisions to protect the people and
the nation against subversion.
Suwarno yesterday reminded the public to be critical of the
push to have the law revoked, and called on the advocates for
legal review to present more solid reasons, rather than be
motivated merely by an antipathy to this law.
"People have to think clearly and consider the reasons for the
existence of the anti-subversive law," he was quoted by the
Antara news agency as saying. "It was established to protect the
nation's survival".
Citing the use of the 1963 law to prevent any efforts to
create instability or insurgence, Suwarno said that similar laws
exist in many other countries.
He named Malaysia as an example.
Suwarno also named a number of subversive cases which have
popped up in Indonesia over the past decades, such as the Sept.
1965 coup attempt by the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party
(PKI), 31 years ago.
He also identified the January 1974 student demonstrations,
which were accompanied by rioting which inflicted massive damage
on property, as well as the 1989 rebellion by a separatist Moslem
group led by a man called Warsidi in Lampung.
Suwarno said that the Ministry of Defense is currently working
on its own draft to replace the anti-subversive law.
"The new document will still contain articles to prevent
subversive activities, only in greater detail, to facilitate
implementation, " he said.
A support for the legal review drive came yesterday from legal
expert Andi Hamzah, formerly head of the Research and Development
Division of the Attorney General's Office.
"We do not need the anti-subversive law because all sanctions
against subversion are already included in Chapter I of the
Criminal Code," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone last
night.
The law is no longer relevant to present conditions, he said.
"It was created for when the country faces an emergency, like it
did during the revolution," he said. "We are not in the middle of
a revolution, are we?" he asked. (imn)