Activists warn of civil disobedience over security bill
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)