Official defends bans on series of NGO meetings
Official defends bans on series of NGO meetings
JAKARTA (JP): The government denied allegations yesterday that
permits for political gatherings and art performances are issued
on a discriminatory basis.
"The criteria are not so much based on who holds or addresses
the meeting but on a consistent enforcement of the law," said
Sutoyo N.K., the director general for socio-political affairs of
the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Sutoyo said the authorities carefully consider the purpose of
the gathering before they decide whether or not to issue a
permit.
Sutoyo was responding to the government's unpopular spate of
bans on privately sponsored seminars and art performances in
various cities without clear legal basis.
The bans, which have been imposed with increasing frequency,
have sparked allegations that they show the government's
determination to tighten control over NGOs. Restrictions on
government sponsored gatherings are rarely if ever made.
In the latest incident, police in Yogyakarta again dispersed a
seminar on the newly issued controversial presidential decree
controlling non-governmental organizations. The police said the
organizers did not have a permit from the local authorities.
It was the second incident of its kind that the ancient city
has witnessed in less than a week. On Sept. 22, security forces
broke up a seminar on the same topic.
Both banned gatherings featured activists from the Indonesian
Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and outspoken intellectuals like
Arief Budiman from the Salatiga based Satyawacana Christian
University.
Special
Tuesday's ban was somewhat special because a member of the
National Commission on Human Rights, Soetandyo Wignyosoebroto,
was scheduled as a speaker.
Numerous seminars and plays have been banned this year
although officials keep insisting that they have no intention to
close the door of openness they have pursued over the past couple
of years.
YLBHI has described the government's heavy-handed policy as "a
show of political repression aimed at trampling the citizens'
freedom of expression and freedom of assembly."
Sutoyo insisted that Law No. 3 of 1985 on political
organizations and Law No. 8 of 1985 on mass organizations with
the various complementary rules provided the legal basis for the
policy on issuance of permits for public gathering.
He said the police, with a recommendation from the home
affairs ministry, have the final say in deciding whether a
gathering would be permitted or not.
"The ministry will check if the organizer applying for a
permit is from a legitimate organization," he said to Antara.
He added that police criteria were different from the
ministry's when issuing a public gathering permit.
"Indonesia upholds the supremacy of law. Even if you want to
hold a wedding party, you are supposed to give notice to your
neighborhood unit chief," he said. (pan)