Official secrets bill may undermine human rights

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

A government-proposed bill on official secrets is prone to abuse by officials and could undermine human rights, an activist says.

Donny Ardyanto, head of the civilian rights division of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), said at a discussion this week that in its current form, the bill did not clearly define what kind of information would be considered classified.

He feared that without clear classification, the bill could limit public access to information.

He also said that officials could easily abuse their power while carrying out their duties, which in the past had contributed to rampant human rights violations by security personnel.

Donny added that a person or group of people should be tasked with determining what kind of information or things would fall under the category of state secret.

"This would help avoid (security) authorities from abusing their power," he said.

He pointed out that in the U.S., the president had the authority to decide which information, things or government policies were classified.

"In the U.S., the president has the sole authority to decide the period of time that certain information or things remain classified," he said

The bill on official secrets, together with two other proposed bills on a new criminal code and the military court, is designed to help improve security in the country.

According to Article 1 of the bill, official secrets relate to all information or things relevant to state security. This means that no one is entitled to such information, nor to take advantage of classified information.

Article 4 says that keeping certain information classified would help officials of various state institutions carry out their duties smoothly.

Donny said the official secrets bill should not undermine human rights values.

He recalled the 1998 kidnappings of dozens of prodemocracy activists by the Army's Special Force (Kopassus), which claimed the operation was part of an effort to maintain security.

"The kidnappings were done covertly, leaving families of the victims with no idea of the whereabouts of their loved ones. The public was not aware of what was happening because it was done in the interests of particular parties, not in the name of national interests," Donny said.