House expected to discuss freedom of information bill

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives is expected to begin deliberation on a proposal for a freedom of information act next month, the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), which prepared the draft, said on Thursday.

ICEL senior researcher Mas Achmad Santosa said the House had included the bill in its legislative schedule and discussion should begin in the middle of September.

The ICEL bill, comprising 10 chapters and 37 articles, was presented to the House last month.

ICEL's campaign was bolstered this month after the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) endorsed a series of amendments to the 1945 Constitution.

Article 28F of the amended Constitution states: "Everyone is entitled to communicate and to obtain information that benefits the individual and his/her social environment, and everyone is entitled to seek, obtain, possess, store, manage and disseminate information using every available kind of medium."

ICEL said the Freedom of Information Act, which obliges government and private organizations to provide information sought by the public, would enhance democracy in Indonesia.

"This initiative is purely an effort to support transparent government," Santosa said.

When endorsed, the act would ensure people's rights to acquire information held by state institutions concerning public accountability, policy formulation and reasons behind those policies, he said.

The right to information in Indonesia currently is not guaranteed the way it is in the United States, Britain, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Thailand and South Africa, he said.

ICEL's draft defines information as facts and data in all kinds of shapes, from documents, files, reports, books, diagrams, maps, pictures, photographs, films to sound recording.

Exempted by the bill is information that could endanger the state, business interests and people's right to privacy, but these exemptions should be subjected to tests.

Also exempt is information whose disclosure would have certain consequences, such as violating a person's right to the presumption of innocence, disrupting or threatening the survival of a business, undermining the nation's defense and security, threatening the lives of people and violating people's rights to privacy.

The bill also states that information should be delivered timely, speedily, cheaply and simply.

The bill also provides ways for people to appeal if their request for information is turned down.

ICEL also proposes independent commissions, at provincial and central government levels, to oversee the implementation of the act and deal with complaints and appeals. (01)