Ismira Lutfia – Drawing attention to human rights and democratic shortcomings in the draft bills on national security and intelligence, the Press Council has urged civil society organizations to help draft alternatives.

"[Lawmakers] don't have enough time to revise the bills to ones that are more compatible with the principles of democracy," Agus Sudibyo, a member of the Press Council, said in a discussion on Monday. "The government will otherwise stick to its proposed versions. This is a challenge for civil society organizations to come up with their own drafts.

Agus also called on the media to participate more actively in the process of drafting the bills. "They must also have a say because this issue is very much intertwined with their own profession, which deals with access to information," Agus said.

Mufti Makarim, executive director of the Institute for Defense, Security and Peace Studies (IDSPS), said the biggest problem with the draft bills was that they gave too much power to government bodies instead of pushing for reforms inside the intelligence agencies.

Indriaswati Dyah Saptaningrum, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), said the two bills did not include protections for human rights in outlining the scope of work of the intelligence bodies. "Every citizen could potentially become a target whose rights could be violated," she said.

The draft bills, Indriaswati said, should include provisions for citizens to file complaints against intelligence bodies should they feel that their rights had been abused, and to allow demands for the rehabilitation of their reputations. Such mechanisms, she said, were necessary to prevent inappropriate information gathering targeting citizens.

Separately, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said there was always the possibility for amendments to the bills while they were being deliberated by the House of Representatives. It was normal, he added, for bills to be changed as they made their way through the legislature.

"We don't know yet how this is going to develop," Purnomo said, adding that public comments were always welcome. "We will include that feedback during the deliberation of the bills by lawmakers," he said.