Academics propose intelligence bill

Academics propose intelligence bill

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A working group of military, legal and political analysts has
completed the draft of a new bill on intelligence aimed at
restoring the badly tarnished image of state intelligence
agencies.

Andi Widjajanto, spokesman for the Working Group for Reform of
State Intelligence, said the bill would soon be proposed to the
House of Representatives after being discussed further with the
relevant non-governmental organizations.

"We are working hard to include the bill in one package with
two other bills -- one on witness protection and another on state
secrets -- which are being deliberated at the House," he told a
media conference here on Tuesday.

The working group was supported by the Pacivis Research Agency
at the University of Indonesia and financed by UNDP and the
Partnership in Governance Reform.

Andi called on the House to use its right to propose the bill
for deliberation with the government as a new legal basis for the
functioning of intelligence agencies in the country.

The draft stipulates that state intelligence agencies have
three core tasks of gathering information and analyzing it as
well as forecasting before issuing an early warning on anything
that could jeopardize the state and national security.

"All state institutions that have a role in state intelligence
are no longer allowed to use force, intelligence agents are
unarmed and they are not law enforcers," said Andi, also a
lecturer with the University of Indonesia.

The bill also recommends the establishment of a state
intelligence coordinating institute (LKIN) with the main task of
coordinating all state institutions playing intelligence roles.
These institutions include the Indonesian Military, the National
Police, the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Home
Affairs.

"LKIN is a civilian body and is subordinate to the president
as the head of state. Its operation is covered by the state
budget and its activities supervised by the House," Andi said.

Cornelis Lay, a political analyst from Gadjah Mada University
in Yogyakarta, said the bill aimed to correct the state policy
that puts national security above all else, including democracy
and human rights.

"The current concept of state intelligence was produced by
president Soeharto's authoritarian regime and is no longer
relevant. National security is as important as democracy and
human rights. We can no longer abandon everything for the sake of
national security," he said.

The bill also aims to correct the National Intelligence
Agency (BIN)'s failure to coordinate with other relevant state
institutions.

"BIN is extremely powerful but it lacks coordination with the
police, military and other institutions in detecting terror
threats. Its failure lies not in the absence of authority to
arrest those whose activities harm the state but in the absence
of coordination with the police authorized to arrest people," he
said, adding it was very risky to allow intelligence agents to
arrest suspects.

Cornelis said the bill's content was far better than the one
which was dropped by the House.

"Before designing the bill, the working group read a lot of
literature on intelligence and intelligence laws of Boznia, South
Africa, the United States, Canada and Israel," he said.

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political researcher from the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI), criticized BIN's performance,
saying it had functioned like Antara national news agency. He did
not elaborate.

"In collecting information, BIN should be able to provide
complex but accurate reports from various sources," he said.

Eyebox:

Code of ethics for intelligence agents proposed in the bill

Agents shall:
1. Comply with the state, Constitution and state institutions
2. Comply with the law and other regulations
3. Respect human rights
4. Carry out their tasks as a public service
5. Maintain secrecy
6. Maintain political neutrality
7. Not use force and repression
8. Not belong to any organization outside the intelligence agency
9. Not work on the basis of race, religion or ideological
sentiments
10. Be punished if they abuse their position