Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Legislators should drop the controversial pornography bill because its implementation would only lead to human rights violations, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says.

Hasto Atmodjo told the House of Representatives on Friday he feared the bill's vague articles would allow multiple interpretations and could be easily manipulated. "The House should cancel its deliberation or at least postpone it until a compromise between the advocates and the critics is reached," he said.

Hasto has been assigned by the commission to study the legislation. The commission is set to announce its official stance on the bill early next month.

"Such things as sensuality and eroticism are difficult to define in a law," he said. "Actually, the bill is unnecessary because the issues it deals with are already covered by other laws like the Criminal Code, the Broadcasting Law and the Film Censorship Law," Hasto said.

On Friday, Muslim groups in Bandung and Makassar called for the speedy passage of the legislation into law.

Some legislators doubt they will be able to finish the deliberation of the bill by June, the deadline set by legislator Balkan Kaplale of the Democrat Party who chairs the committee. Lawmakers are set to go on recess next week until March 24.

In Bali, the Young Hindu Dharma Intellectuals Forum came out Friday against the bill, saying it would threaten tourism and local culture.

Earlier, members of the hard-line Muslim Indonesian Mujahidin Council had protested the Bali provincial government's stand against the bill. "We reject any laws that discriminate against religions and local cultures," forum chief Anak Agung Ngurah Arya Wedakarna said.

However, the forum said it would support any law that would stop the distribution of pornographic materials.

The group said the bill was inspired by sharia law, which might suit some Muslims but should not be imposed on people of other religions.

The draft legislation, which has articles banning kissing in public and punishing people for how they dress, has been rejected by artists, women's activists and media groups.