INFID, June 4, 2004
INFID's Response to the Recent Statement of BIN
BIN's STATEMENT "NGOs ENDANGERING NATIONAL SECURITY" ECHOS
REPRESSIVE MEASURES IN SOEHARTO ERA
As indicated in press reports, including Kompas, May 26, 2004 and The Jakarta Post,
May 31, 2004 (editorial), General A.M. Hendropriyono, the Head of State Intelligence
Body (BIN), at a May 25 meeting of Commission I House of Representatives, stated
that there was a negative campaign by NGOs against candidates for president and
vice president that endangered national security. He asserted that 20 national and
international NGOs, including the International Crisis Group and its Indonesia director
Sidney Jones, and Lembaga Studi dan Advokasi Masyarakat (ELSAM) and its
executive director Ifdhal Kasim, were suspected of actions which risked disturbing the
national security. No facts were stated to support these allegations. In response to
General Hendropriyono's report, a majority of Commission I members urged BIN to
undertake preventive steps as necessary against those who would endanger national
security.
The statement by the Head of BIN and the majority response from Commission I of
House of Representatives show:
1. That the culture of militarism in the management of the State is still strong, in
which limitations on legitimate political expression and the criminalization of political
opinion are accepted, not unlike the situation prevalent during the Soeharto Regime.
2. That there is a risk that BIN will inappropriately involve itself in electoral matters
that are fundamentally the province of the citizens of Indonesia.
In regard to the above, the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development
(INFID), an umbrella organisation consisting of 57 national NGOs and 60 international
NGOs, states that:
1. BIN's statement, and the support it received from Committee I, without evidence of
violations of law, constitute threats to freedom of expression and association
guaranteed by Article 28 of the Indonesian Constitution, as well as Articles 19 and 20
of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. Respect for freedom of expression and freedom of association is central to the
exercise of
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