Experts call again for abolition of subversion law

Experts call again for abolition of subversion law

SEMARANG (JP): Experts are making a fresh call for the
abolition of the anti-subversion law which they say is outdated,
defective and trampling on people's rights.

Legal expert Satjipto Rahardjo, constitutional law expert
Soehardjo, and sociologists Darmanto Jatman and Is Susanto
discussed the relevance of the law in relation to democratization
in a seminar at the August 17 University yesterday. The speakers
agreed that the law should be revoked because it is no longer
relevant with current situation.

Satjipto, who is a member of the National Commission on Human
Rights, said the commission has determined that Law No. 11, 1963
on subversion has many substantial flaws.

"Seen from many points of view, including that of the
Pancasila state ideology, international documents on human rights
and Indonesia's Criminal Code, this law is defective," said the
lecturer from Diponegoro University.

Satjipto pointed out that the legal mechanisms currently in
effect, including the Criminal Code, have been developing rapidly
so that they covers topics contained in the law. Furthermore, he
said, the law is no longer relevant as it was issued during the
Old Order administration of the late president Sukarno in his
capacity as the "Great Leader of Revolution".

Darmanto said the law is "an artifact of the Dutch colonial
administration's system aimed at controlling its colony".

"The law was never meant to increase public participation in
development. Instead, it's a means to oppress people," Darmanto
said. "The law should be revoked because it really violates
people's basic rights."

The human rights commission late last year called for a review
of laws which were considered no longer relevant, and those which
it alleged trample on people's basic rights. The subversion law
is among the laws being evaluated.

The campaign caused a split in society. Prominent human rights
activists and legal observers, such as Abdul Hakim Garuda
Nusantara and J.E. Sahetapy, are staunch proponents of the
revocation of the subversion law.

Most of the proponents criticize the expansive definition of
the term "subversive" because it sometimes includes those who
merely have points of view differing from the state ideology,
Pancasila.

In the opposite camp are the Armed Forces and government
officials. Chief of the Supreme Advisory Board Sudomo, for
instance, steadfastly defends the law, pointing out that although
the criminal code already has sanctions against subversive
activities, it does not prevent them from occurring.

The former chief of the Internal Security Agency (Kopkamtib)
also believes that if the law is abolished, as some people have
recently demanded, Indonesia would have no other means to cope
with the danger of subversion.

In the seminar yesterday, Soehardjo said that the law was
designed in such a way as to encompass all human behaviors as
potentially subversive. "If one studied the law really carefully,
one would be amazed," he said.

"All it needs is the government's suspicion that a person's
activity is undermining its power or authority, and the person
can be branded as subversive just like that," he said. (har/swe)