Official secrets bill may undermine human rights

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.