Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Experts have argued that certain exemptions contained within the new freedom of information law, particularly those on state defense and strategies, will hinder the monitoring of the Indonesian Military's accountability, which is one of the main purposes of the law.

The freedom of information law will be enacted next week, two years after the House of Representatives passed it.

"We will monitor the implementation of the law. We must avoid any attempt to abuse the law by any party," Information Commission Chief Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The new commission is tasked with presiding over information sharing disputes between state institutions and the public.

He said he expected all parties to read the Freedom of Information Law thoroughly to comprehend what kind of state defense information could be made available to the public.

"Later on, we will act as a panel of judges to tackle disputes that may occur as a result of the implementation of this law," he said.

Legislator Tubagus Hasanudin of the House's Commission I overseeing defense and intelligence said it was necessary for representatives from state institutions, NGOs and all related parties to sit down together and attempt to understand what kind of state defense information could be shared with the public.

"Thus we will have the same perception on many things on this particular subject, and therefore will avoid many potential misinterpretations," he said.

The law forbids the disclosure of any information on military strategy, intelligence, personnel composition and weaponry allocations and estimations on military capabilities.

However, the same law requires state institutions to uphold transparency for policies, cooperation with third parties and other information as long as the publication of that information would not negatively effect the state.

Military spokesman Rear Marshall Sagom Tamboen said the military had no complaints about the information law, and added that the military was more than ready to discuss the possibility of giving information regarding state defense to the public.

"If the public requires us to reveal information regarding the state defense then so be it. But of course we need to discuss a set of limitations because we can not just open up all information. No country has ever done such a thing," he said.

Exemptions for defense-related information

• Information and documents on strategy, intelligence, operations, tactics and techniques related to defense and the state security system ranging from planning, implementation and finalization or evaluation in relation to threats from inside or outside of the country.
• Numbers, compositions, disposition and dislocation of power and capacity of the defense and state security systems and its development planning.
• Drawings and data revealing locations and conditions of military bases and installations.
• Data on estimations of military and defense capacities of other countries limited to all acts or indications that the countries pose a threat to the country's sovereignty or data relating to military cooperation with foreign countries that has been agreed by the parties to be confidential.
• State code systems and state intelligence systems.