Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Activists warn that the national security bill, currently being deliberated at the House of Representatives, has the potential to threaten freedom of the press since it gives security actors unlimited authority.
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairman Nezar Patria said Wednesday that with the absence of accountability mechanisms, the draft law on national security would curb press freedom instead of ensure proper security measures that made people felt secure.
"We have learned through bitter experience during the New Order era that without accountability mechanisms, any law on security opens the possibility to abuse of power, such as kidnapping or intimidating people deemed a threat to national security," Nezar told The Jakarta Post by telephone.
To some extent, he said, the national security bill overlapped with other bills, including the draft law on intelligence and the bill on state secrets, which also grant security actors unlimited authority in conducting security measures against people allegedly conducting activities deemed a threat to national security.
In Article 54 of the draft law on national security, it is stipulated that "national security components have the authority to tap a conversation, to investigate, to arrest and other authorized necessary measures".
"We have no objections to efforts to ensure people feel more secure; security actors should not perform security measures however they please without involving accountability mechanisms," said Nezar.
Security actors, he said, should not have the authority to tap a conversation without court consent, for example. Without such consent, security actors may take measures, including tapping a conversation, that have nothing to do with national interests.
"Look at how the Soeharto regime used security measures merely for his political interests. He used it either to deflect political enemies or opposition activists or to censor critical voices against his dictatorship," said Nezar.
Similarly, Al A'raf, an activist from Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), said the bill threaten not only press freedom but also law enforcement, human rights and democracy.
"Authority to tap a conversation, investigate and make arrests as stipulated in the bill on national security overlap with similar authority mentioned in other bills, including the draft law on intelligence," said Al A'raf.
He said the draft law on national security should not give new tasks to security actors, such as military and police personnel since they already had clear operating rules as stipulated in Law No. 34/2004 on the Indonesian Military and Law No. 2/2002 on the National Police.
The draft law opens the potential for abuse of power since it mentions no accountability mechanisms in taking security measures.
"It gives a blank check to security actors, allowing them to conduct security measures without concerning why they should take such measures and for what purposes," said Al A'raf.
"The draft law should include a mechanism to make sure that authority is not abused by any security actor," he said, adding that the national security bill should have a more limited coverage to avoid overlapping with other security bills.