Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – It was not too early for National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Gen. (ret.) Sutanto to throw a party two weeks ago at his home to anticipate the House of Representatives' swift passage of the long-debated intelligence bill.

However, it was apparently too late for human rights activists to stop the House from enacting the contentious bill into law on Tuesday, ending eight years of deliberation.

Dozens of activists from several NGOs mobilized outside the House building in Jakarta and in cities such as Bandung, West Java and Semarang, Central Java, to no avail.

While the House dropped controversial articles from the bill that would have granted the BIN arrest authority, numerous loopholes remain that might negate the good intention of giving the nation's spy bodies political legitimacy after operating under no legal basis since Indonesia gained independence in 1945.

Among the critiques of the law was the absence of clauses that would require intelligence agencies to uphold human rights and democracy and penalize those who did not.

The need for such protections became evident after the killing of human rights activist Munir in 2004 onboard a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam.

While the BIN denied responsibility, an off-duty Garuda Indonesia pilot linked to senior BIN officials, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, was convicted of Munir's murder in 2008 and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment, which he has since appealed.

Nezar Patria, chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), raised the concern that the law might threaten press freedom.

The law stipulates that people or institutions can be prosecuted for leaking intelligence and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment or to pay a Rp 500 million (US$56,000) fine if convicted. "With no specific definition of 'intelligence information', the article might be interpreted freely."

Critics also derided loosely worded provisions of the law that authorized intelligence agencies to collect information, claiming it gave agents in the field a "license to arrest and interrogate".

Further, the law does not explicitly ban intelligence personnel from supporting political parties or from political involvement. For instance, the law does not ban the nation's intelligence agencies from conducting operations to support politicians in power or to act against their opponents.

House deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said the law would bolster BIN's fight against terrorism, despite the protests and the law's downsides.

The intelligence agencies will also have more maneuvering room under the law to expand surveillance of foreign interests for economic, defense, environmental, mining and criminal reasons.

Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar hailed the new law, saying it would ensure that the nation's intelligence agencies functioned properly. "Now, intelligence agencies can no longer do anything 'out of the system' that might create public unrest and ignite fears," he said. (rpt)