Jakarta – The government will embrace hard-line groups in an effort to persuade them to stop using violence, even though it has already been proven that the groups have broken the law.
The government earlier sought to revise the 1985 Law on the Freedom to Organize to allow for the disbanding of hard-line organizations deemed to have disrupted security and public order. The government planned to insert a new article to empower them to take supervisory actions, including the dissolving of such organizations.
However, under the current law, the government already has the authority to disband any organization that has disrupted security and public order, received or given aid from other countries without the government's permission or disseminated the ideology of Marxism-Leninism.
"Before disbanding them, we will embrace and empower them first so they stop using violence," said Sudarsono Hardjoesoekarto, the Director General of National Unity and Politics at the Ministry of Home Affairs, on Saturday.
The move to disband hard-line groups comes as the government faces mounting pressure to take stern action against groups accused of using violence to further their aims.
Sudarsono said the government would ask the groups to register their organizations according to their area of establishment.
"Local organizations can register with their regencies, cities, or provinces, while national organizations can register at the home affairs ministry," he said during a talk show organized by the Media Indonesia daily newspaper and Ramaco FM.
He said after the groups registered, the government would look at using a closer cooperative program, such as training, until they stopped the use of violence. "If they still use it we will remind them that the government can disband them based on the law," he said.
Islam Defender Front (FPI) leader Habib Riziq Shihab said his organization used violence because the police did not work to eradicate the existence of prostitution and gambling in the country.
He said he was disappointed the police did little to enforce the law. "If the police dare to enforce the law, then the FPI will voluntary disperse," Habib said.
Separately, criminologist Adrianus Meliala said the problem could be solved if the police were able to enforce laws. "The idea of revising the law could make the government find it more difficult to control hard-line organizations," he said.
Adrianus said the government will have to prove the groups have used violence in order to disband them, which could be very debatable. "It is difficult to say that they have violated the law because they have permits and statutes," he said.
Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) chairman Fadloli El Muhir told The Jakarta Post his organization's principles were based on Pancasila and were contained in the FBR statutes.
Adrianus said the police had the authority to arrest members of any organization who were proved to have disrupted public order. "The police can take measures against the person because it is the police's authority to create public order," he said.
Adrianus raised concerns that if the government used the law to disband the groups, then it could misuse the law to disband any organization working against it.
During the New Order regime, former president Soeharto frequently used the law to close groups in opposition to him. He would claim such groups were communist organizations and thus were against Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.
Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi agreed with Adrianus on the dissolution of organizations, saying the problem could be solved simply if the police took stronger actions against them. "The government can disband the hard-line organizations, but they can form a new organization. It does not solve the problem," he said.