Rights body prepares revision for broadcasting bill

Kurniawan Hari The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Human rights activists have joined the increasing calls for a complete revision of the contentious broadcasting bill, saying that many articles in the bill are against press freedom and the public's right to information, as stipulated in the amended 1945 Constitution.

Rights activists said here on Thursday they would submit a draft revision to the House of Representatives (DPR) to enable it to make the necessary revisions before it was endorsed in November.

Member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Achmad Ali confirmed on Thursday that the commission had formed a team to specifically deal with the matter.

"We have agreed to push for revisions to repressive articles in the broadcasting bill. If there is no revision, the public will not accept it," Achmad told The Jakarta Post by phone.

Achmad was referring to a meeting between rights activists and the broadcasting community on the bill. The meeting was attended by Komnas HAM chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara and commission members Mohammad Farid, Chandra Setiawan, Achmad and the broadcasting community.

Earlier Abdul Hakim said that the bill ought to adopt articles that guaranteed protection of human rights.

Leo Batubara, who spoke at the meeting, meanwhile emphasized that the government ought to make revisions or delay endorsement of the bill.

According to Leo, from the Indonesian Press and Broadcasting Society (MPPI), the government has tried to improve its control over the media through articles in the broadcasting bill.

He pointed out that there were at least 15 articles from which the government could intervene in broadcasting affairs.

He added that the articles were all against article 28 F of the amended 1945 Constitution.

The Constitution states that the right to communicate and the right to seek, obtain, possess, keep, arrange or convey information is the right of every citizen.

Unfortunately, the government has been trying to use the broadcasting bill to strengthen its control over the media and to place limitations on public access to information.

"Many articles in the broadcasting bill show the strong dominance of the government," Leo told the Post.

The bill was first deliberated in 2000, but shows no signs of conclusion as of today. The long period of deliberation is mainly blamed on both the government and legislators for ignoring public aspirations.

They not only ignored the aspirations of the people, but were unable to synchronize their own opinions. This caused legislator Astrid Susanto to leave the meeting room, avoiding the working meeting on Sept. 25 with State Minister for Communications and Information Syamsul Muarif.

She and fellow legislators protested against changes made by the government without consultation.

Syamsul claimed that the changes were made to accommodate the aspirations of the broadcasting community, a statement which was refuted by Leo.

Leo acknowledged that there had been some progress on the content of the bill, including the government's acceptance of community-based broadcasting stations and limitations on media cross-ownership.

However, Leo emphasized that the basic content of the bill was an attempt to control the media.

Besides revision of some repressive articles, Achmad added, the government and legislators had to drop articles that had been adopted in the Criminal Code.

He said the broadcasting bill ought not to incorporate articles on pornography and character assassination because they had been inserted into the Criminal Code. "Those matters will be handled by the police. There is no need to insert them into the broadcasting bill," said Achmad.

-------------------------------------------------------------- Contentious articles -------------------------------------------------------------- - Article 17: regulation on the number and coverage of local, regional and national broadcasting stations and media cross- ownership - Article 28: issuance of licenses - Article 29: guidance for broadcasters - Article 30: networking - Article 31: broadcasting equipment - Article 55: appointment of civil servants to launch inquiries and close down broadcasting stations. - Article 61: will be stipulated further in government decree ---------------------------------------------------------------