Antiterrorism Law
Only a few days before the horrible Bali tragedy occurred, noted human rights activists Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Advocacy Association and Daniel Pandjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute "urged the government not to rush to endorse the (antiterrorism) bill".
Hendardi said, "I don't see the relevance yet, as we have not yet suffered from the terrorist acts described in the bill" (he obviously forgot terrorist acts like the Christmas bombings and the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange. His fellow activist Daniel Pandjaitan echoed, "...consider it (the antiterrorism draft law) and endorse it in the next three to five years" (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 9, 2002).
Immediately after the Bali bombings, the government could, at last, enact the Antiterrorism Law.
I would like to remind those activists that first, since Soeharto's resignation in May 1998, the political situation in Indonesia has changed dramatically. Nowadays, security authorities are confronted with unprecedented terrorist attacks.
Second, many control mechanisms are in place that will take care of any abuse of a stricter Antiterrorism Law, for instance numerous NGOs, student activists, human rights organizations and the media!
Third, it seems that human rights activists are only concerned about the rights of alleged terrorists. But what about the hundreds and thousands of victims of terrorist attacks, those who were killed, who lost their husbands, wives or children, who lost their jobs, and who live in a state of constant fear, traumatized by their ordeal -- don't they have rights too?
President Megawati Soekarnoputri should not listen anymore to those who, for too long, insisted "There are no terrorists here", and to those with a know-it-all attitude, but should listen instead to the ordinary people, who are fed up with being victimized by terrorism.
One can only hope and pray that the government will not have to regret its decision to drop the proposal to adopt the ISA (Internal Security Act). Megawati's rivals would only be too happy to blame her for not having done enough to counter terrorism when there was still time.
HILDE MAY Jakarta