Jakarta – If passed into law, the state secrecy bill could lead to abuses of power by unscrupulous government officials, activists and experts warn.

"The bill goes against the protection of human rights," Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) external relations officer Poengky Indarti said.

The bill stipulates that state secrets can only be used as evidence to charge people leaking such information. However, if such information implicates a government official it can not be used to send them to court.

State secrets include information, items and activities that the President has deemed necessary to be kept secret from the public.

The bill also stipulates that anyone involved in activities of state secrecy can not be charged in court for their activity, except for major human rights violations and corruption cases. However, since the disclosure of state secrets can only take place between five and 30 years after the event, it is almost impossible to reopen cases based on the declassification of state secrets, Poengky said.

"Within those years, evidence regarding the violations would most likely have disappear or change. The perpetrators may have gone overseas or, if they are government officials, obtain high positions, making them harder to investigate," she said.

A.C. Manullang, an intelligence expert, said human rights violators should not be given protection through the bill.

"I agree that some information is better kept secret from the public, but information about human rights abuses must be disclosed. The state should not give government officials a means to cover up their criminal actions," Manullang, who is also a former director of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), told The Jakarta Post.

Many lawmakers in the House of Representatives do not really understand what should be categorized as a state secret, Manullang said.

"I am worried that this bill will serve political party interests more than national interests," he said. Manullang also said the bill provides loopholes for corruption.

According to the bill, state secrecy covers "any information related to budgeting and spending allocations and government assets for the purpose of national security" as well as "the salary amounts of military staff".

This was unfair because the public has the right to know what their taxes are being used for, he said.

"Surely people do not want the state budget used to finance criminal activities. People also do not want corrupt officials embezzling budgets, under the guise of state secrecy," he said.

Poengky questioned the importance of keeping military officials' salaries a secret.

"I'm afraid it will allow military officials to receive bribes undetected. No one can tell if they are corrupt if they do not even know the amounts of their salaries," she said. (mrs)