Activists warn of civil disobedience over security bill

JAKARTA (JP): Political activists warned on Thursday of the likelihood of civil disobedience if the House of Representatives failed to suspend its deliberation of the controversial bill on state security and civilian militia.

Bambang Widjojanto of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) maintained that the House lacked the moral grounds to continue the deliberation in the wake of a public outcry.

He said people should display "a motion of no confidence" in actions visible to the House.

"If the motion of no confidence can be jointly amassed, then it could be organized as a pressuring force to the House in the form of civil disobedience," he said after a discussion on the bill at Atma Jaya University.

The bill grants the president the power to declare a state of emergency in troubled territories. He or she would also be allowed to delegate authority to the military, which would then be invested with unlimited power to crack down on threats to state security.

The military would be authorized to carry out investigations and raids, and take over all mail and telecommunications facilities. In a state of emergency, bans or limitations on street demonstrations and print and electronic media would also be permitted.

Bambang said that acts of civil disobedience should only be used as a last resort if the House and the government ignored the public's demands.

He recommended that a plebiscite be held if the bill remained on the agenda. If the people reject the bill but legislators continue to push it through, he said civil disobedience would be a viable alternative.

The foundation plans to hold an open debate on the bill in the near future, with House members and officials to be invited.

Bona Sigalinging, head of the law students presidium at Atma Jaya, called on students and the general public to band together to reject the bill.

"We call on people from all walks of life to be alert to this bill which threatens the freedom of our fundamental human rights."

L. Agung of the Yogyakarta Youth Association said that students across the country were ready to hold mass rallies to pressure the House and the government to drop the bill.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, dozens of students and members of the Democratic People's Party (PRD) held street rallies protesting the bill on Thursday.

"The bill is a form of collaboration between the government and military to make the military a new (political) force in this reform era," spokesman Alim Israk said. (emf/27)