Banning of gatherings questioned
Banning of gatherings questioned
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators and human rights activists protested yesterday the banning and breaking up of gatherings by police.
They said the practice violates the people's constitutional right to assemble.
A seminar on the issuance of permits for gatherings, held by Commission I of the House of Representatives, questioned the police concerning the legal grounds for the practice.
Commission I oversees security and political affairs.
Djoko Soegianto and Brig. Gen. (ret.) Roekmini Koesoemoastoeti of the National Commission for Human Rights, legal expert Dr. Loebby Loqman and the legislators of Commission I discussed the numerous bans on gatherings over the years at length.
Deputy chief for operational affairs of National Police headquarters, Maj. Gen. Koesparmono Irsan, who was invited to speak, explained succinctly the legal grounds for the banning.
Djoko recounted several cases of police banning of seminars, including one in which a member of the human rights commission was barred from speaking because the event had not been given police permission. This sparked questions because a similar seminar held by the same organizer, although with different speakers, was allowed to proceed without a glitch.
"Many other figures known as activists, including poet Rendra have experienced similar treatment," Djoko said. "Those people are actually critical thinkers, not rebels ... Their criticism is always confined within the system."
Unfortunately, "many executors of the system are afraid of criticism ... a thing which should be natural in a democratic country," Djoko said.
Last year, there were at least two incidents of banning and breaking up of seminars by the police. In September, a dozen police officers dispersed a seminar on land conflicts organized by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation. Participants included members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the National Commission on Human Rights and activists of non-governmental organizations.
The foundation protested the police action, saying it had no authority to ban the seminar which posed no threat to national stability. The foundation also pointed out that the right to hold such meetings was guaranteed by the constitution and the law.
Regulation
Yesterday's seminar saw the speakers trying to prove that there is no regulation stating that every seminar must have a police permit. They questioned the legality of a 1963 presidential decree on political activities which the police usually use as grounds to disperse gatherings.
Djoko and Marcel Beding, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction, said the decree was enacted when communism had a stronghold in the country.
Koesparmono, however, pointed out that the decree has since been revised. This revision allows the police to halt and disperse political activities and has been used by the police as legal grounds for their action.
Koesparmono also deflected criticism about the police having undue authority.
"The responsibility for processing applications for permits is not solely that of the police alone," he said. "There are other agencies involved in issuing permits for holding seminars or other forms of gatherings."
He also rejected the suggestion that police have been restricting seminars and scientific gatherings on university campuses. "It all depends on the kind of seminars that the students hold ... if they are really scientific, there should be no problems for them to obtain permits," he said.
Loebby Loqman criticized Koesparmono's stance, saying that the concept of "campus freedom" should be defended. He also asked the National Police to cut the red tape in the permit-application procedures.
Djoko and Roekmini also used the occasion to criticize the House of Representatives for its inability to correct the situation.
They said the House has failed to respond even though the police have arbitrarily grouped "demonstrations, scientific seminars and meetings attended by more than four people" in the same category and treated them in the same manner.
"We see that the House lacks sensitivity in correcting the weaknesses of our laws and regulations, including the 1963 decree which is still being used despite the fact that it's no longer relevant," Djoko said.
"The Constitution, which guarantees the people's right to assemble, should be realized ... so that each citizen's right is more protected," he said. (swe)