The trauma remains

The trauma remains

The new ruling on freedom of expression announced by the
government on Wednesday removes some of the excessive obligations
placed on the people's shoulders by the now obsolete Criminal
Code. But as a whole, the new policy falls far short of meeting
the public's expectations. People from many circles are
disappointed by the new policy in which police retain the
authority to curtail constitutional rights.

People now have the freedom to hold wedding parties or similar
gatherings without police permits even though this kind of basic
personal freedom should have been provided to them five decades
ago. Another awkward element of the new policy is the freedom
given to political groups to hold meetings without a permit as
long as "they do not discuss how the state is being governed and
have no intention of influencing the way that is done".

In fact, the people have a genuine constitutional right to
discuss politics, including the way they are being governed and
where the government will take them.

The question remains: Who has the authority to judge the
nature of the meeting? The police officers? What a comedy that
would create if such a thing were to happen.

The new policy also stipulates that anyone wanting to hold a
political demonstration is obliged to request a police permit
seven days beforehand. According to the new ruling the police
still have special authority to break up any gathering if "there
is foregoing evidence showing intent or activity which disrupts
the public order or breaches the law".

These stipulations leave us wondering what the policy change
really means.

People who wish to demonstrate against any unlawful acts by
power holders will automatically lose momentum if they have to
wait for a police permit.

To make a long story short, in a country where the
administration is very strong, with no sound system of checks and
balances, the authorities tend to look for loopholes between
every comma and period in any ruling in order to justify their
use of power.

The authorities have broken up so many gatherings that our
people are dogged by trauma. The police have manufactured
evidence time after time to come up with the charge of
"disturbing public order" as a reason to break up meetings.

A recent meeting of an unauthorized labor union was banned
because of "a public disturbance" caused by demonstrators
renouncing its existence. Instead of banning the meeting, the
police officers should have dispersed the mysterious protesters
who were demonstrating outside the place the gathering was held.
This is a blatant example of well planned abuse of power.

When Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
Soesilo Soedarman announced in August that the government planned
to relax the permit policy, many people welcomed it as the
dawning of a new era of openness because they believed there
would be a significant change in the old policy. But what was
expected as a great salvo of freedom on Wednesday has turned out
to be a small firecracker.

There is no substantial change. The authorities still seem
intent on controlling the people's political activities and
forcing them to toe the government line. The new ruling has
failed to return the basic rights stolen from them so long ago by
the Dutch colonial authorities. Neither has it opened the way
towards the pure implementation of the freedom of expression
guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution.

By issuing the new ruling, the government seems to be saying
it is willing to give the citizens political freedom bit by bit.
This means the rigid political situation is here to stay for the
foreseeable future.