House to debate bill on protests

House to debate bill on protests

JAKARTA (JP): The government bill on freedom of expression,
submitted in spite of massive public protests, passed its second
reading on Thursday.

The minority United Development Party (PPP) was the sole
opposition and its proposal to reject the bill was quickly
defeated by the Armed Forces (ABRI) and ruling Golkar factions.
The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) said it neither opposed nor
supported the reading of the bill.

As the members deliberated the bill's fate, about 500 people
staged a noisy but peaceful protest outside the house complex.

A heavy presence of riot police ensured that the protesters
were kept far enough away so that their noise was barely heard in
the room where the plenary meeting was held.

The bill, drafted by the Ministry of Defense and Security,
proposes to regulate street demonstrations.

It seeks to ban protests near the presidential palaces, other
strategic locations and places of worship.

It also proposes that the police must be informed of any
demonstration involving up to 50 people, while protests involving
more than 50 people must have a police permit.

Another clause in the bill says that broadcast and print media
must obtain police permission to report demonstrations.

Because of the emergency way that the bill was presented, the
document would become a regulation in lieu of a law if passed by
the House.

The government has insisted that the regulation is necessary
to maintain peace and order. It has pointed out that similar
regulations already exist in other countries, including the
United States.

PPP faction spokesman Djuhad Mahja told the plenary meeting on
Thursday that the government's proposal went against the 1945
Constitution which guaranteed freedom of expression.

It also ran counter to the current reform spirit, he said.

Djuhad warned that if the bill was passed, it could create new
problems. He feared that the police could arbitrarily reject all
requests for demonstrations by invoking national security
concerns.

"This has the potential to violate people's human rights," he
said.

The government should draft a proper law rather than take a
shortcut to introduce a regulation in lieu of a law, he said,
adding that his faction would appreciate the efforts to restore
stability if the government followed the proper channels.

PDI faction spokesman Y.B. Wiyanjono said that while his party
did not reject or support the bill, it agreed with the government
that there was a need to improve forms of public expressions.

The faction also agreed that the bill was not intended to
restrict, let alone curb, people's democratic rights to express
their opinions through demonstrations.

"Stability is necessary, but demonstrations should also be
accepted as part of democracy," he said.

The Golkar faction said it fully agreed on the need to
regulate demonstrations, saying that uncontrollable protests were
undermining government efforts to resolve the economic and
political crisis.

"Many massive demonstrations breached the acceptable limits,
some even turning into riots that led to casualties in lives and
property," Golkar faction spokesman Ridwan Sani said.

The PPP and PDI factions disputed Article 8 requiring the
media to obtain a police permit to report on demonstrations.

Djuhad and Wiyanjono said the clause could be seen as an
attempt by the government to impose media censorship.

But Minister of Justice Muladi, who represented the government
at the plenary meeting, told reporters later that Article 8 was
not intended to be "preventive censorship".

He suggested the House factions reword the article to prevent
misunderstandings, adding that if many people still did not feel
comfortable, the article could simply be dropped.

The deafening protests outside the House compound, staged by
an alliance of 18 non-governmental organizations, did not have
any impact on the deliberations.

The protesters called on the factions to reject the bill and
to concentrate instead on ratifying various international
conventions that guaranteed people's rights, including the
convention on civilian and political rights.

An offer by members of House Commission I for security,
defense, law, politics and information to meet with six
representatives of the demonstrators was turned down; the
demonstrators insisted that they all be allowed to enter.

They later agreed to disperse peacefully. (rms)