NGOs reject state secrecy bill

JAKARTA (JP): A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) grouped under the Coalition for Freedom to Information said on Friday that they were against the bill on state secrecy currently being deliberated at the House of Representatives (DPR).

"If the bill is passed into law, it will be a disaster (for freedom to information). 'State secrecy' has a very broad meaning and can be dragged into many areas," said Mas Achmad Santosa of the Coalition for Freedom to Information.

He reiterated that the bill was not in line with efforts to create a transparent government as it would not only apply to a limited number of high ranking officials but also those of the lower echelons.

Citing Article 12 Paragraph 2 of the bill, Santosa said even government officials of the first echelon could decide if a state document was a secret.

Santosa said the bill also did not rule how to solve conflicts if there were different interpretations of ambiguous phrases in the articles of the bill.

"I am worried that officials can arbitrarily decide that a certain matter is a secret. This is against the efforts to combat corruption, collusion and nepotistic practices (KKN)," Santosa asserted.

He classified state secrecy into two -- the good and the bad. He said "good" secrecy covers national defense, security and other matters that had to be protected, while "bad" secrecy was on matters that had nothing to do with the nation's security.

State secrecy, Santosa added, could also be categorized into national security secrecy, political secrecy and bureaucratic secrecy. He said national security secrecy covered all matters linked to national security.

"Only the good secrecy and national security secrecy deserve to be protected," said Santosa.

Deputy head of the State Code Institute Wihardijono said earlier that a law on state secrecy was needed to guide the institute in its tasks.

He also said the law was particularly important to rule on "gray areas" between what was believed to be a state secret and what was not.

"We need a law on state secrecy to protect the nation's interests," he said, adding that he also supported the effort of the Coalition for Freedom to Information to introduce a bill on the freedom to obtain public information.

The organizations that supported the coalition are the Independent Journalist Association, the Antidiscrimination Movement, the Indonesian Conference in Religion and Peace, the Indonesian Corruption Watch, the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, the Information Flow Studies Institute and the Indonesian Media Law and Policy Center.

Santosa stressed that if the bill on state secrecy was passed into law, it would hamper public access to information.

"We know that public access to information is one of the requirements to help create an open government. An open government is a government whose policies are made through transparency, openness and participation," he added.

He said an open government ought to guarantee at least five public rights, which consisted of the right to monitor public officials (right to observe), the right to information, the right to participate in creating public policy, the right to reject policies and freedom of the press.

The effort to prevent KKN by creating an open government is more strategic than repressive efforts of punishing corruptors, Santosa added. (02)