Opposition mounts over state security bill

JAKARTA (JP): The Independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) joined other observers on Thursday in denouncing the newly submitted bill on state security, which it said would kill democracy in the country.

"This bill will kill democracy and return the country to the rule of an authoritarian power... The bill is even worse than the subversion law which was revoked by the People's Consultative Assembly last year," said Tommy Aryanto, coordinator of Kontras' monitoring department in a press conference here.

He said Kontras has studied the bill and found numerous "irrationalities" that ran counter to democratization.

Tommy said the bill's submission was a setback for Indonesia's fledgling democracy.

"We have to reject the bill (the way we rejected) the subversion law because it was against the spirit of the reform movement."

The bill seeks to position people as enemies of the state, and to put the interests of the state above everything else, he said. In addition, it negated the sovereignty of the people over their territory and the government.

The bill implies that public officials and the military are allowed to exercise violence, such as the bloody riots in May last year, clashes in East Timor and ongoing tension in Aceh, he said.

According to Kontras, the bill assumes that people are the main source of threat to the state's security, and disregard potential threats from the military or enemies outside of the country.

Observers grouped in Indonesian Parliament Watch (Parwi) on Wednesday criticized the bill as repressive and called on the House of Representatives to drop it.

Ori Rachman of Kontras' legal division, who also spoke at the press conference, said the bill could be abused and manipulated by the next government to further its own interests.

He said the bill could be also seen as the present government's excessive suspicion of people in certain regions such as Aceh, Irian Jaya and Riau, which have all clamored for separation from the country.

"This is one strange document as it positions the people as a threat to the state," he said. He insisted that demonstrations by workers, farmers and other justice seekers could not be considered a threat.

He said Kontras was committed to campaigning to win public support to reject the bill.

The bill was actually conceived during the last years of Soeharto's New Order regime, but was abandoned until Monday, when the Ministry of Defense and Security submitted the document to the House for deliberation. The bill is meant as a replacement for the 1959 Law No. 23 on the State of Emergency. It is now being studied by the four House factions before deliberations commence.

The military faction at the House plans to see the bill ratified by the end of August.

Generals

Meanwhile, the bill drew a mixed reaction from former generals.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Hasnan Habib, former chief of the military's sociopolitical affairs, hailed the bill, saying that it was similar to those in other developed countries.

"Everywhere in the world, governments and armed forces have full authority to take action in any emergencies, including rebellions, chaos and disasters, and people in such situations will lose their individual rights," he told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday.

He said the United States, which is known for its liberal democracy, still has such a law to maintain state security.

"For example, when the United States' military launched an operation to crush a rebellion in an island near Cuba several years ago, islanders lost their rights and the press was gagged and martial law was declared."

Former National Police chief Gen. (ret) Awaloeddin Djamin reminded the House to be extra cautious in its deliberation.

"The bill should be made better than the 1959 law on state of emergency and the revoked subversion law," he said.

However, he criticized the bill for seeking to grant the president and the military commander the authority to declare war and state of emergency without having to consult the legislature.

He said that in handling unrest, separatism, natural disasters and rebellions, the government should consult the legislative body. The state of emergency should also be introduced in stages, from civilian emergency, military emergency to war emergency.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Kemal Idris, former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), said the current House, which was considered by many to be illegitimate, should not deliberate the bill. It should leave it for the next House and government to discuss, he said.

"Everyone knows that the current House is a product of an unfair general election and hence is illegitimate. Therefore, the bill should be submitted to the new House that will be officiated next month," he said. (05/rms)