Ismira Lutfia – The recent passage of a bill aimed to protect US citizens from libel lawsuits in foreign countries has once again put the spotlight on Indonesia's defamation laws, with Human Rights Watch saying it should serve as a "wake-up call."

Backers of the bill, which was passed on Tuesday by the US House of Representatives, have cited Indonesia as one of the places where it was easier for a plaintiff suing for libel to get a favorable court ruling.

According to Senator Patrick Leahy, one of the sponsors of the bill, one goal of the law is "to protect people who live and work in the United States from the chilling effect on free speech of overbroad defamation laws in force around the world."

Journalists and human rights organizations have long criticized Indonesia's criminal defamation laws, which Human Rights Watch says "undermine democracy, the rule of law and freedom of expression in Indonesia."

Christen Broecker, from Human Rights Watch's Asia, wrote in an e-mail to the Jakarta Globe that "Indonesian government officials should see the US bill as a wake-up call," that laws such as the 2008 Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE) Law, which authorizes steep fines and prison sentences for Internet defamation, raise concerns abroad that the nation remains a place where free speech is at risk.

Hendrayana, who is chairman of the Legal Aid Foundation for the Press (LBH Pers), added that although the Constitution guarantees the freedom of expression in the country, it still lacks clear protocols on what constitutes free speech and press freedom.

Even if press freedom is further guaranteed by the 1999 Press Law, a Human Rights Watch report on criminal defamation law released in May said the law "is insufficient to protect journalists. As a result, despite parliament's intention to encourage media freedom, journalists and editors remain exposed to the risk of criminalization for doing their work."

"The government could take the bill as an example to provide better protection for freedom of expression and press freedom here, and to ensure that there are no laws that hinder free speech," Hendrayana said.

The US law will not have a direct effect on Indonesian court rulings, but media experts warn of the fine line between a country protecting its citizens and intruding on another nation's business.

"The law will permit US courts to evaluate defamation judgments rendered by foreign courts, including Indonesian courts, against American writers or publishers and determine whether those judgments are inconsistent with the free speech protections of the US Constitution," Broecker said.

Human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis agreed, saying that Indonesian court rulings on defamation charges would not be executable in the United States, especially if the journalist or writer was not a resident of Indonesia.

Press Council chairman Bagir Manan said it was normal for countries to protect its citizens, but added that the United States "also has to respect Indonesia's national sovereignty."

The LBH's Hendrayana, who is critical of Indonesia's defamation laws, says that "each country must observe and respect that other countries have their own jurisdictions."