House lends support to govt's war on terrorism

House lends support to govt's war on terrorism

Debbie A. Lubis and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Giving a needed boost to the drive to fight terrorism, the
House of Representatives (DPR) said on Monday that it supported
the government's move to issue government regulations in lieu of
a law to track down terrorists.

House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said in his opening speech at the
start of its session on Monday that the House "appreciated" the
issuance of the regulations but would also wait for the
government to submit the much-anticipated antiterrorism bill.

"Therefore we urge the government to submit the antiterrorism
bill as soon as possible so that the House can prioritize it on
its agenda and it will have a firm legal base in carrying out its
duty," Akbar said.

Nevertheless, he said, the House would discuss the regulations
when the government submitted them first to the House.

A week after the Bali blasts on Oct. 12, which killed at least
191 people, the government issued Government Regulation No.
1/2002 on antiterrorism and Government Regulation No. 2/2002 on
the implementation of the first regulation.

Based on the fourth amendment of the 1945 Constitution, the
House has to give its approval or rejection of the regulations at
its next session.

Akbar said the House would support the regulations, but warned
that in implementing them, the government should continue to
respect human rights, freedom of speech and people's intellectual
creativity.

Major factions in the House, including the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the Golkar
Party, all gave their support to the regulations.

PDI Perjuangan faction chairman Roy B.B. Janis quoted his
faction as saying that the regulations were needed to allow the
government to take action against suspected terrorists.

However, he warned that the regulations might contain
loopholes and warned the government not to abuse them.

"We give our support to the war on terrorism. But we should
remember that based on our past experience, this kind of black
and white ruling can be utilized to suppress any party who is
critical to the government's control mechanism," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Despite support from United Development Party (PPP) chairman
Hamzah Haz, who is also the Vice President, PPP legislator Lukman
Hakim Saifuddin said that the House should reject the regulations
because they allowed the government to carry out repressive
actions.

He said he would rather wait for the government to submit the
antiterrorism bill and deliberate it than approve the defective
government regulations.

Also rejecting the regulations were about 100 activists from
the Democratic National Student League (LMND), who rallied at the
Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Monday.

They said the government regulations would terrorize the
people, and therefore called on the House to reject them.

Vice President Hamzah Haz, who in the past built a close
relationship with leaders of hard-line groups, came to the
defense of the regulations on Monday.

He said that by issuing them, the government was actually
taking a great risk in taking the blame if their implementation
drew public protest.

Therefore, he said the government would prefer to submit the
antiterrorism bill and share the burden of its implementation
with the House.

"If there is a mistake in the implementation of a regulation,
the government alone will be to blame. Whereas if there is a
mistake in the implementation of a law, the government and the
House will be jointly responsible for that," he added.

Separately, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra said the antiterrorism bill would be submitted to the
House later this week after the drafting team added more clauses
and an explanation, which were missed in the two government
regulations.

"We invite public input to improve the draft," he told
reporters on the sidelines of a launching of a postgraduate
program on human rights here.

The government will submit the draft law along with the two
government regulations.

Yusril expressed hope that the House would debate the
antiterrorism bill as soon as it was submitted, so that it would
automatically annul the two government regulations, whose
contents many people believe to be full of weaknesses and prone
to human rights abuse.