Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – Members of the House of Representatives have called on the government to take action against the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) following last week's clash between its members and residents of Sukorejo, Kendal, Central Java, which left a local woman dead.
The lawmakers said the decision was in the hands of the Home Ministry. The ministry is responsible for managing the country's mass organizations and has authority under the newly-enacted Law on mass organization to take action against the FPI to prevent more violence.
"The FPI has clearly violated stipulations in the law on mass organizations by committing violence. The government should take firm action against the organization, by implementing an immediate suspension," lawmaker Abdul Malik Haramain, who chaired a special committee tasked with deliberating the Mass Organization Law at the House of Representatives, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The National Awakening Party (PKB) politician emphasized that such a punishment was urgent in order to "prevent members of the FPI committing further violent acts against locals".
Tri Muniarti, 42, a resident of Sukorejo, died after a car driven by members of the FPI hit her and several other people, including her husband, during a riot following FPI attempts to conduct a sweep in the village's red-light area last Thursday.
Tri sustained severe head injuries and was pronounced dead upon arrival at Ngesti Waluyo Hospital in Parakan. Three other residents sustained fractures and bruises.
The Mass Organization Law, which was endorsed in June, amid widespread criticism for its undermining of freedom of association, mandates the government to temporarily halt the operations of any groups that, among other things, fail to preserve peace and public order, as well as groups that attempt to take the law into their own hands.
However, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said that the government could only act if it received recommendations from members of the public or the National Police, a stance lawmakers dismissed as "unacceptable".
"The law says nothing about such requirements," Haramain said. "The law stipulates that the government can issue warning letters to problematic organizations and can temporarily halt their operations if they fail to respond to the warnings."
Separately, Eva Kusuma Sundari from the House's Commission III overseeing law and human rights concurred with Haramain, saying that "the government's reluctance to punish the FPI for what happened in Kendal shows that it is afraid of the radical group".
According to Eva, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the government and the police do not need any more reasons to punish groups such as the FPI, which has repeatedly committed violence and illegally imposed its will on the public.
"It's crystal clear to me that the government has never had the commitment to punish vigilante groups, such as the FPI. It's unreasonable for the government to wait for recommendations in order to take action against the FPI or any other vigilante groups because it is the institution with the mandated authority."
During the deliberation of the law, the Home Ministry, which initiated it, repeatedly gave assurances that the bill would be responsive to public calls for the disbandment of violent groups such as the FPI.
Prodemocracy activists, however, doubt whether the law will address the problem and have called for a repeal of the draconian legislation.
Activists said that the government's response to the incident in Sukorejo showed that with or without the Mass Organization Law the government would not take action against the FPI.
"It's clear that the government won't deal with the FPI with or without the law," Elga Sarapung from Yogyakarta-based interfaith organization, DIAN/Interfidei, said.
Responding to the critics, Bachtiar, the Home Ministry's mass organization sub directorate head, said the public should not force the ministry to take the responsibility as the authority belonged to the police.
"The police have taken all measures to deal with the incident. It's too much to expect the Home Ministry to take the responsibility, particularly if people use the law [on mass organization] to put pressure on us," Bachtiar said.
FPI spokesman Muchsin Alatas responded disdainfully to the calls from the House for his group's disbandment, saying that the group would suspend their operations if lawmakers enforced the law and stopped being corrupt.
"It's the House that needs suspension because it has imposed a lot of suffering on the people through their corrupt actions," he said.