Govt, legislators differ on draconian law

Govt, legislators differ on draconian law

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Following last week's Marriott bombing, the government is
mulling the adoption of a draconian law to preempt terrorist
strikes, but House of Representatives' leaders appear to be
having none of it.

At the beginning, the public and the media paid little
attention when Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil floated
the idea last week of adopting a draconian Singapore or
Malaysian-style Internal Security Act (ISA).

But on Monday, Matori was joined by Coordinating Minister for
Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, who all
lent support to the controversial proposal.

Interestingly, they both voiced their open support after a
meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri, saying that the
existing antiterrorist law was not strong enough to stop a
terrorist attack from happening.

"The law says that judges can use intelligence reports to
legalize the arrest of a suspect. But that is not enough. We are
in a very weak position when it comes to stopping things from
happening," Susilo said.

The top security minister said that he would discuss overall
antiterrorism measures, including the proposal for the adoption
of an ISA-like law, during a meeting at his office this Thursday.

Endriartono supported the possible adoption of an ISA-like
law, saying that it would accommodate the needs of the country in
taking preemptive measures against possible terrorist attacks.

The proposal was floated following last week's terror attack
on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed 11 people and
injured 148 others. The attack occurred less than one year after
major blasts in Bali killed more than 200 people.

The government's proposal, however, has sparked protests from
rights activists as well as a number of House leaders and
legislators.

Their concerns especially center on the fact that the ISA in
Singapore and Malaysia gives too much power to security
officials, including the power to detain anyone suspected of
planning a terror attack for two years without trial.

Indonesia used to have a similar draconian law, the subversion
law, which was scrapped in 1999 following the downfall of the
authoritarian regime of Soeharto.

Soeharto used the subversion law to silence hundreds of his
political opponents by sending them to prison without trial.

Rights activists like Hendardi and Munir slammed the current
government's desire to adopt another draconian law, saying that
the move was aimed at deflecting attention from the government's
inability to counter terror attacks.

They both expressed concerns that the adoption of such a
draconian law would lead to excessive human rights violations.

They suggested that instead of adopting a draconian law, the
government should improve the work of its intelligence agencies
and use the existing laws, including the Criminal Code, to
preempt terror attacks.

House of Representatives' Speaker Akbar Tandjung and chairman
of the House defense and security commission, Ibrahim Ambong,
joined the chorus rejecting the government's proposal.

They contended that the adoption of an ISA-like law would only
bring the country back to the dark days of authoritarianism.

"The idea of adopting an ISA would first need a comprehensive
assessment because it will spark protests," Akbar told the press
after a meeting at his office here.

He added that the existing antiterrorism law was more than
enough for the security forces to combat terrorism.

Ambong agreed and said that instead of drafting a new law, the
country should evaluate the implementation of the antiterrorism
law, Law No. 15/2000, by the police.

Both Akbar and Ambong are from the Golkar Party, the second
largest in the House after the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which is led by President Megawati.

Some legislators from the PDI Perjuangan have, however,
apparently given support to the government's controversial
proposal. Legislator RK Sembiring Meliala is one of them. He said
the country needed a new, tougher law to preempt terror attacks.

"I think the new law must give officials the power to launch
preemptive measures," Sembiring told The Jakarta Post.