Antiterrorism Law
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