Rudini for abolition of permits

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)`