Jakarta – An NGO has voiced protests over the recent House approval of the 2011 Law on Intelligence, which grants intelligence officers authority to wiretap during investigations.

According to the NGO, the new law gives the intelligence community a "blank check," which could put human rights in jeopardy.

"We have noticed that there aren't enough restrictions in the law that can prevent intelligence agents from conducting wiretapping activities that could violate human rights," Indriaswati Saptaningrum of Elsam said Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

The newly passed law allows intelligence officers to conduct wiretap activities to support investigations of matters that could endanger national interest.

Indriaswati added that the House passage of the intelligence bill into law had proved that lawmakers weren't paying serious attention to the aspirations of their constituents, who had demanded more time to deliberate on the bill to avoid such a blunder.