Cautious drafting of demonstration legislation sought
Cautious drafting of demonstration legislation sought
JAKARTA (JP): The government's plan to regulate street
demonstrations through official legislation must not come at the
expense of people's democratic rights, experts and politicians
said yesterday.
In the second day of the discussion on the proposed law, the
wind shifted direction, with participants saying they agreed in
principle to the government plan now, though they cautioned that
the issue must be treated with care.
"The rising number of protests lately, some of which involved
violence and near-criminal activity, certainly supports the
argument for legislation," said Roekmini Soedjono, a retired
police brigadier general who serves on the National Commission on
Human Rights.
Roekmini said the legislation should not only regulate
demonstrations but also stipulate the obligations of the
authorities, including the security apparatus deployed to deal
with demonstrations.
She said Article 510 of the Criminal Code and Law No.13/1961,
which are most often invoked for everything from sit-in
demonstrations and poetry readings to seminars, were not
effective for disbanding public gatherings.
"Because the laws are so weak, security officials tend to
stretch them out like an elastic band according to their own
desire -- or the desire of whomever they've received the order."
The seminar, held by the School of Social and Political
Sciences of the Nasional University (Unas), was attended by
student representatives from 12 universities across the country.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Wahono, in a speech
which was read by Abu Hartono, a legislator from the Armed Forces
(ABRI) faction, agreed on the need to regulate demonstrations.
Wahono said the law should support people's right to
demonstrate but added that it must also be able to define the
restricted areas of their activities.
According to Roekmini, a draft of the law is currently being
discussed by a special group of government officials.
However, Dwi Susanto, a lecturer at the University of
Indonesia's School of Social and Political Sciences, does not
consider the legislation as particularly necessary.
"Personally, I don't think a decree will make things better.
What is needed is more openness and a bigger heart, especially on
the part of those being targeted by demonstrators and who should
be able to listen to their critics," he said.
He said that such an attitude was still unfamiliar to most
Indonesians. Therefore, he considered the main issue to be the
"cultural gap" between the demonstrators and their subjects, and
how to bridge their differing values.
Roekmini said many people were now taking to the streets or
turning to the National Commission on Human Rights to file their
complaints. In their view, the House of Representatives is no
longer able to accommodate their thirst for change.
Dwi also questioned the capability of some House members to
grasp problems, especially when it comes to confronting students
demonstrators.
"How do you expect a legislator with an elementary school
education background to have the same perception as a
demonstrator who is in his last semester of university?"
In a later session discussing the role of the press as an
alternative to demonstrating, former chief editor of the defunct
Tempo magazine Goenawan Mohamad stressed that the press "is not
and cannot become an alternative to protests".
"The press in Indonesia cannot always be a place where one can
express one's opinions," he said. "It is not a 'sacred being'
which automatically brings with it the truth."
Goenawn said however that the press has a role in providing
people a place for discussion and information. "It also has the
potential to seek the truth," he added.
Sofyan Lubis, chairman of the Indonesian Journalists
Association, was also scheduled to speak yesterday but failed to
show up. (pwn)