Bill gives BIN 'excessive powers'

Bill gives BIN 'excessive powers'

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The draft bill on intelligence provides the National Intelligence
Agency (BIN) with excessive powers, say rights campaigners, and
will put civil liberties in peril.

Article 1 of the bill states that the BIN has the authority to
arrest those suspected of conducting any activities that could
threaten national security -- a power that will turn Indonesia
into a police state, according to three prominent rights groups.

"This is very dangerous, as such an authority is possessed by
the judiciary," Munarman of the Foundation of Indonesian Legal
Aid Institute (YLBHI) said on Sunday.

YLBHI, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras) and the Institute for Policy Research and
Advocacy (Elsam) said in a joint statement that the bill was rife
with articles that could infringe upon basic human rights and
contradicted the due process of law.

Munarman said a power to arrest an individual upon suspicion
could diminish the professionalism of intelligence officers, as
they could resort to the method before all other measures had
been exhausted.

"The intelligence agency should collect information
discreetly, without the knowledge of those who are targeted, and
this requires officers' professionalism. The article on arrest
would prompt officers to detain suspects to collect information,"
he said.

The bill also grants the BIN chief a powerful role relative to
heads of intelligence units in other government institutions:
Article 27 states that the appointment of heads of other
intelligence units, such as those at the Attorney General's
Office and the National Police, must be approved by the BIN
chief.

The BIN chief can also recommend a candidate for the House of
Representatives' commission overseeing intelligence affairs.

Another cause for concern in the draft bill is a stipulation
that BIN can run its own business activities to raise funds aside
from their state budget allocation to cover operational costs.

Further, Article 23 of the draft bill allows BIN to purchase
firearms directly from producers as part of its business
activities.

Usman Hamid of Kontras said such a privilege could spur an
illicit firearms trade in the country.

Riding on the coattails of the United States-led war on
terror, BIN began drafting the bill on intelligence in 2002,
formulated exclusively by intelligence agency officials.

The government has not submitted the draft to the House for
deliberation as of yet.

"BIN cannot be left to itself in formulating the draft bill,
as it will surely draw up regulations that will give the agency
the maximum benefit," Usman said.

He said the coordinating minister for security and political
affairs must immediately take over the drafting of the bill and
make it more accountable to the public.

Despite their criticisms, the rights watchdogs said the
country needed a law on intelligence more than it did in the
past, especially to deal with future terrorist attacks.

"Successive terrorist attacks in the country have indicated
that our intelligence did not perform well and had not heard the
wake-up call. A law on intelligence should boost its
professionalism," Usman said.