Why are letters censored?
Why are letters censored?
On June 19, 1996, I mailed a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Sri
Bintang Pamungkas, whose address is Jl. Merapi D-1, Komplek Bukit
Permai, Cibubur, Jakarta Timur 13724.
According to a very reliable source, my letter was censored by
a powerful institution. The source could reproduce the content of
my letter clearly and in a great detail, because he received a
copy of the letter from that particular institution. This means
that copies of my letter have been widely distributed to the
public without my permission.
It also means that the institution has violated the law and
the right for confidentiality of private letters, and also
violated basic human rights, as done in totalitarian, communist
countries. The postal services have also in this case violated
the law because they gave my letter to the particular institution
to be censored. In fact, post offices should keep letters
confidential.
I am deeply saddened and furious at this act of censorship.
How could such a dirty, vulgar, and immoral action take place in
a Pancasila democratic country? Human rights have been undermined
and law principles ignored: power remains above everything. The
people has become a mere object in the hands of the power holder.
It is ironical that after 50 years of independence, people are
losing their freedom. During the Dutch colonial time, privacy of
correspondence was guaranteed by law. Personal letters were never
censored. Our own people are more cruel than the Dutch
colonialists.
I read in a newspaper that in the United States President Bill
Clinton asked the FBI to submit some personal letters. The FBI
categorically refused to hand over the letters to the President
because personal documents must be kept confidential. Exactly the
opposite is taking place in this country. The aforementioned
institution, with the help of the postal service, censors
personal letters and lets third parties know the content of the
letters without permission of the writers. This act deserves to
be condemned. Have we become a totalitarian country? Without
reference to the existing laws, I hope the above mentioned
institution and the postal service to stop immediately censoring
personal letters, including letters to Sri Bintang.
SUHARSONO HADIKUSUMO
Jakarta