The National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM has called on the government to explain what has happened to information or intelligence reports about persons deemed to be political enemies of the Old Order. Such data should be declared invalid and totally destroyed.

Komnas HAM chairman, Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, said it should be guaranteed that such information cannot be misused for the purposes of stigmatising individuals or groups for political purposes. The public has a right to know what has happened to this information, in accordance with Article 28F of the Indonesian Constitution.

He said that it was inappropriate for people to be stigmatised for political purposes because in a democratic society, people have the basic right to hold various opinions, without being branded by the government.

He also explained the Commission's opinion with regard to the draft law on State Secrets. The Commission holds the view that there is no need for such a law. It would be quite enough for anything regarded as a 'state secret" to be treated as an exception in the draft law on Freedom of Information.

Another members of the Commission, Lies Soegondo, said there were now three drafts of a law on Freedom of Information, coming from a coalition of NGOs, from the government and from Parliament. In her view, the Parliament's draft is the best because it is more transparent, while the government's draft is very half-hearted about giving information to the public.