Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman – Legislators deliberating the intelligence bill warned on Thursday that a proposal to classify the main intelligence agency as a government body could leave it open to misuse.
Gamari Sutrisno, from the House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense affairs, said defining the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) as a government body rather than a state institution would limit its independence and allow ruling government officials to use the BIN for their own ends.
"We demand it be changed [in Article 2 of the bill] to 'state institution,'" said Gamari, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). "Without this, there is a danger that the intelligence agency could be used for the interests of those in power."
Teguh Juwarno, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), agreed the wording should be changed and warned that deliberations could otherwise stall.
"There will likely be a raft of new powers vested in the BIN through this bill, so it would be dangerous if in the end it could be misused by certain politicians for their own interests," he said.
Effendy Choirie, from the National Awakening Party (PKB), also stressed the importance of distinguishing the BIN as a state institution, like the National Police and the Armed Forces (TNI).
"If we want the intelligence agency to be part of the national security and defense architecture, then it must be clearly defined as a state institution," he said.
However, Patrialis Akbar, the justice and human rights minister, told the House hearing that there was nothing wrong with categorizing the BIN as a government body.
He said the Constitution recognized seven state institutions, including the House and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), therefore the need to include the BIN should be carefully considered.
He also argued that even without formal recognition as a state institution, the BIN would enjoy considerable independence from the government through the other articles in the bill.
"The bill will also stipulate tough punishment for any intelligence personnel misusing their authority, so there's no need to be afraid," Patrialis said.
The classification issue is the latest snag to hit deliberations on the intelligence bill, which has been dogged by fears that its passage will give the BIN too far-reaching powers to arrest and interrogate civilians and carry out surveillance.
On Thursday, the human rights group Imparsial presented a list of its concerns to legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Al Araf, Imparsial program director, said wiretapping, preemptive arrests and state secrecy were among the contentious issues.
"The authority to conduct a wiretap should be left to law-enforcement agencies and should be contingent on a court-issued warrant," he said, adding that the article in the bill allowing the BIN to carry out its own arrests would effectively lead to state-sanctioned kidnapping.
Imparsial called on the House not to rush the intelligence bill into passage, and instead to ask the public for feedback.
T.B. Hasanuddin, a PDI-P legislator, said his party and several others had already stated their opposition to the proposed powers of arrest, while the issue of wiretaps would be fully regulated in a bill now being drafted by the Communications and Information Technology Ministry.