Rudini for abolition of permits

JAKARTA (JP): Former home affairs minister Rudini called yesterday for the abolition of the policy requiring people to obtain government permission to hold gatherings, saying that Indonesia was not in "a state of war".

His successor, current Minister Moch. Yogie S.M., defended the policy, although he agreed that the procedures should be relaxed and that, for most gatherings, informing the authorities should suffice.

"If I want to hold festivities for my son's circumcision, then I only need to tell the neighborhood chief. I don't need to ask for any permit," he said.

Rudini, who now leads the Institute for Strategic Studies of Indonesia, said he believed that the nation was no longer in "a state of war" and that, therefore, "tight supervision" of public activities was unwarranted.

"The country is stable...There are of course problems, such as in East Timor, but nothing that calls for such treatment," he said.

The long-standing requirement that a permit be obtained to hold cultural performances, seminars or assemblies of more than five people should be abolished, he said.

Instead, the government should introduce a requirement that people "give notice" to the authorities of any plan to hold a gathering, he said.

Rudini pointed out that the regulations regarding permits for gatherings had their origins in the Dutch colonial administration and during Japan's occupation of Indonesia. "This is now a free country...What are those regulations for?" he asked.

By law, any gathering involving more than five people must have a permit from the authorities. Obtaining such a permit may require a visit to three or more government offices.

In the past, police have turned down requests for permission to hold seminars, public debates and even cultural performances on the ground that they had the potential to undermine national stability.

Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman announced on Monday that he had asked a team within his office to review the controversial policy.

A leading non-government organization, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), immediately responded to the announcement, saying it feared the review would result in a tightening of the regulations.

Setback

Another criticism came from leading human rights campaigner Todung Mulya Lubis, who said that establishing the team represented a setback because there had already been court rulings against the procedures.

"Establishing that team makes it more obvious to us that freedom of speech, of expression, does not have a respected place in our life," he told The Jakarta Post in Yogyakarta.

He suggested that, instead, the government should establish guidelines which did not include the requirement that people ask permission to hold an academic event or cultural performance.

Article 510 of the Criminal Code, often relied upon by the police in breaking up gatherings, did not in fact apply to academic discussions, he said. "The article is meant for gatherings such as wedding receptions," he said. "Holding seminars or discussions, no matter what their topic is -- and in university campuses -- don't need any permission whatsoever."

Rudini said the authorities were justified in taking action against academic gatherings only if they found that speakers were expressing anti-Indonesian sentiments.

"Even then, the most that the authorities should do is notifying the university presidents," Rudini said.

Mulya Lubis, however, put the blame on the university administrators who docilely make requests for permits every time they wish to hold a seminar and, thereby, confer recognition on the policy.

He hinted that academics should go against the tradition and start holding seminars without permits. "The seminars might be disbanded, but that's the risk they have to take ... If necessary, we should sue the authorities every time they disband a gathering," he said.

"The more lawsuits, the dizzier the government will become," he said.

Rudini gave the government credit for adjusting certain policies in recognition of growing public demands for openness.

But, he said, lower-level authorities and officials often remained uninformed about policy shifts. (swe/02)`