NGOs subject to law on mass organizations

JAKARTA (JP): All non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are subject to the 1985 law on mass organizations, Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. said yesterday.

By the same token, all NGOs must register with the government, Yogie said before attending a cabinet meeting.

"They have to obtain government recognition and they have to meet certain requirements stipulated in the 1985 law," he said at Bina Graha presidential office.

His statement came after some NGOs, described by the government as "problematic", defied the authority, saying they were not mass organizations and therefore not subject to the same law.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), one of the NGOs targeted by the government, said the law states that a foundation can be established by a notary, which is then filed with the Ministry of Justice.

The 1985 law, according to Yogie, stipulates that the guiding principle of NGOs, and mass organizations, must be the state ideology Pancasila.

NGOs must also report all foreign financial support received from abroad, he said.

This clause was drafted into law to ensure foreign funds could not be used to finance the activities of the opposition groups, he said.

"These criteria are needed to ensure that NGOs stick to the missions stated in their respective statutes," he said.

The 1985 law applies to foundations, until Indonesia has a new law on foundations, said Sutoyo N.K. Director General of Social and Political Affairs of the Home Affairs Ministry.

Sutoyo, whose office oversees the registration of mass organizations, said the YLBHI was not yet registered.

The debate about NGOs was renewed last week after Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedirman said the government was prepared to take action against 32 "problem" NGOs.

Soesilo said some NGOs failed to specify the Pancasila as their ideology, while others were engaging in illegal activities. The 32 represents a small minority of the 8,000 Indonesian NGOs, he said.

Yesterday, Attorney General Singgih, who also attended the cabinet meeting, said investigations into the activities of the 32 NGOs would begin soon.

His office has already received the files, he said.

"We will investigate all the NGOs, to see whether they are violating their statutes," Singgih said.

Sutoyo earlier named YLBHI, the National Brotherhood Foundation (YKPK), the Indonesian Prosperous Workers Union (SBSI), the New Masyumi Moslem Organization, the New Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) and the Pemuda Marhaen Youth Organization, as some of the targeted NGOs.

The latest crackdown on NGOs began with the rounding up of leaders of the little-known Democratic People's Party (PRD), in July.

The government said the PRD had communist traits, and blamed the organization for inciting the July 27 riots that left at least four people dead. SBSI chairman Muchtar Pakpahan was arrested in the wake of the riots and has been charged with subversion.

The NGOs have resisted previous government attempts to regulate their activities. They argue that if they must be regulated, it should be by legislation, and not by presidential or ministerial decree or by the 1985 law on mass organizations. (imn)