State security bill must be halted: Experts
State security bill must be halted: Experts
JAKARTA (JP): Experts agreed here on Tuesday on the need to
halt the state security bill being deliberated in the House of
Representatives, which they claimed was a violation of human
rights and press freedom.
Speaking at a seminar held by the Institute for Social and
Economy Research, Education and Information, military observer
Hasnan Habib said the bill was "similar to the existence of the
KGB and PID."
The KGB was the former Soviet Union's secret police, while the
PID existed during the Netherlands colonial rule of Indonesia.
"We don't need the law. There are no foreign threats to
Indonesia," said Hasnan, who maintains that the country's police
force is adequate to counter internal threats.
Lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution concurred, saying that the
existing Criminal Code was sufficient.
"Articles in Book II on Crimes, Chapter II on Crimes to the
State are sufficient," he said.
"The military has vested interests (in the bill), to maintain
the privileges they've had all these years," Nasution claimed.
The state security bill, along with a press bill, is among
several contentious legislations currently being deliberated in
the House.
Leo Batubara, of the Association of Newspaper Publishers,
acknowledged that the press bill provided adequate freedom to the
press. "I'll give (a mark of) 85 out of 100," he said.
However, he had nothing but censure of the state security bill
which, if applied, allows for a censure of media coverage.
"There were gross human rights violation in Aceh which were
uncovered by media reporting. Can you imagine what will happen if
the media are barred from covering an area during a state of
emergency?" he asked.
"Once the bill is passed, they will do this (a media coverage
ban) in Aceh, Ambon, Irian Jaya and East Timor," Batubara said.
In Semarang, Central Jakarta, about 50 students from the
Indonesian Law Students Association staged a protest on Tuesday,
rejecting the bill on state security.
Gathering in front of the Central Java provincial council
building, they charged that the bill would grant excessive power
to the military and the government in the event of perceived
threats to the state.
Group coordinator R. Kristiyanto said, "We reject the bill
because it violates civil and political rights. It will also
grant huge powers to the military to dominate civilian life."
He pointed out that the 1945 Constitution already rules on the
President's right to declare a state of emergency in Article 12
and to proclaim war in Article 11.
Therefore, he said, such a bill would be redundant, except for
the military being able to wield greater power. (05/har/edt)