James Balowski, Jakarta – In response to continuing protests and press criticism, the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri is resorting to the tactics used by the Suharto dictatorship to suppress dissent.

A March 1 article in the Jakarta daily Kompas, "Jail for political activists", documented the arrest of 220 activists between April 17, 2002, and February 21. This figure did not include the hundreds of political activists who have been threatened, harassed, beaten or detained for short periods.

Although there has been an enormous expansion in formal democratic rights since the 1998 overthrow of the Suharto dictatorship, a repressive mentality still prevails in the state apparatus. Television images of baton-welding police in full riot gear charging peaceful protesters have become a regular feature of local news broadcasts. Demonstrators are again being driven back by water cannon, ensconced behind the locked gates of the national parliament.

Kompas told the story of Iqbal Siregar, an activist from the Islamic Youth Movement who has been held in a 5x6-metre police holding cell since January. Siregar was arrested on charges of "insulting the president" because he held a poster of Megawati with her face crossed out with black ink, which someone had given him at a rally. He was dragged out of bed by police in the middle of the night several days later.

In June last year, Nanang and Muzakkir, activists from the Popular Youth Movement (GPK), were sentenced to one year in jail by the Central Jakarta state court for insulting the president and vice president. Their arrests followed a street theatre action that used photographs of Megawati and vice-president Hamzah Haz as props. At the end of the performance, the photographs were stamped on and smeared with rice and rotten fish. No action was taken at the time, but eight days later Muzakkir was arrested in the street and Nanang abducted the next day while sleeping at his parents' house.

On July 19, Kiastomo, an activist in East Java, was arrested for burning an effigy of Megawati. On the same day, Fernandes, an activist from the People's Art Network (and a member of the People's Democratic Party, PRD), was arrested and later jailed for one year for "insulting a symbol of the state".

Arrests Iwan Dwilaksono, chairperson of the Indonesian Student League for Democracy (LMND), said that since the beginning of January, at least 47 LMND activists have been arrested. "Fourteen in Samarinda [East Kalimantan], six in Kendari [South Sulawasi], four in Palu [Central Sulawasi] and two in East Java. [Plus additional] activists arrested in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta who are still being detained by police. Most have been charged with insulting the head of state and disturbing public order." Kompas notes the striking uniformity of the charges: insulting the head of state (smearing or stamping on pictures of the president/vice president): insulting symbols of the state (burning flags); holding a demonstration without a permit; inciting others to demonstrate; resisting officers of the state; and even subversion – the charge under which hundreds of political activists, and those struggling for independence in East Timor, Aceh and West Papua, were jailed during the Suharto years (theoretically the notorious Anti-Subversion Law was repealed in April 1999).

The official attitude of police has been to, on the one hand, claim that protests are a "natural" part of reformasi, and, on the other, to warn people not to let it "reach the point of violating the law, destroying things or disturbing public order", as Indonesian police chief General Da'i Bachtiar stated recently.

Activists view it differently. "These arrests and jailings indicate that the police are still tools of the authorities", said Dwilaksono.

Police have also used "Law Number 9/1999", which requires a permit to organise a demonstration, article 156 of the Criminal Code regarding violations of "pubic order", articles 154 and 160 regarding "incitement" and articles 214 and 218 dealing with "attacking officers of the state".

Activists from the Student Executive Council and the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI), in particular, have fallen foul of the permit law. KAMMI chairperson Hermawan told Kompas that more than 20 KAMMI students have been arrested and detained. "In Manado, North Sumatra for example, four comrades were arrested, in Surabaya [East Java] two, Makassar [South Sulawasi] three... Moreover, our comrades in Jambi [South Sumatra] were beaten and treated like criminals and held for four days and three nights", he said.

Johnson Pandjaitan, a lawyer from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association told Kompas: "Previously these articles were used along with the Anti-Subversion Law. Now, articles from the Criminal Code are being used with the Law on the Freedom to Express Opinion".

Ironically, he said, even after police had been informed of an action, they still break up demonstrations. "In the end, even this law has become a tool of repression against those who have a different opinion to that of the government", said Pandjaitan.

PRD chairperson Haris Rusli Moti told Kompas that the repressive turn of the Megawati government is a consequence of massive popular resistance to the neoliberal economic policies that it is implementing. Unable to convince the majority of people that the policies dictated by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank – which involve price increases, cuts to subsidies, liberalisation of trade and imports and the sell-off of state assets – are good for them (along with growing unemployment, poverty, mass sackings and the closure of factories), repression is the only recourse available to the government.

"However, the repressive policies have produced increased radicalism and an escalation in the numbers in struggle. The only means to contain the people's resistance is through correcting the policies which are the source of the unrest", Haris told Kompas.

Thuggery The arrest and jailing of activists has done little however to stem the rising tide of discontent and the regime has resorted to outright thuggery. There are frequent reports of attacks by "unknown assailants" against activists returning from demonstrations or on the offices of opposition groups. More often than not, these are carried out by thugs from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) or Golkar, the former ruling party under Suharto (who, along with the military, are now PDIP's staunchest supporters in parliament). Offices of the PRD, LMND and GPK in particular have been targeted. On February 19 and 25, the offices of the People's Lawyers Union (SPR), which is handling a class action against Megawati, was attacked. The assailants said they would return if the suit was not withdrawn.

True to their word, they returned on March 1, kicking and beating SPR spokesperson Habibburachman. Prior to the attack, the office had received phone threats for most of the day.

At a rally of the party faithful in Jakarta on February 23, Wea, who is also the minister for labour and transmigration, warned the media and students to stop "insulting" PDIP leaders.

The February 24 Jakarta Post quoted Wea as saying: "Rakyat Merdeka [the top selling Jakarta tabloid], I warn you not to write [articles] that abuse PDIP. If they insist on insulting PDIP leaders, they will have to `face' thousands of PDIP supporters... I warn you, students, don't repeat your actions".

The following day, the PRD's Haris was quoted by Detikcom as saying that such threats are pointless because although the PDIP can mobilise large numbers of supporters, politically they carry little weight because the policies of their own party are also impacting on the lives of its membership.

"This is thuggery. We are only asking that the agenda of reformasi be implemented. If they are not capable [of doing it], then [they should] resign", Haris said.