16 July 2003
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WARNS OF RETURN TO AUTHORITARIANISM
In Indonesia, the repressive dictatorship of Suharto may have ended five years ago, but the ghosts of authoritarian rule are re-emerging, warns Human Rights Watch. In a report released last week, the group says that under President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who took power on 23 July 2001, a quietly growing trend is emerging of regressive policies aimed at curtailing political dissent in Indonesia.
The report documents dozens of cases of individuals arrested and charged for engaging in non-violent expressions of dissent against the Sukarnoputri administration. In the process, draconian colonial-era laws in the Indonesian Criminal Code have been dredged up to facilitate politically motivated prosecutions, and once again are being used as a political tool to silence dissent, Human Rights Watch says.
Since Sukarnoputri became president in July 2001, 39 prisoners of conscience have been imprisoned in Indonesia, says Human Rights Watch. Prior to her presidency, Indonesian authorities had released all prisoners of conscience in the years following the collapse of President Suharto's regime in 1998.
Human Rights Watch says it is particularly concerned about the increasing use of an article under Indonesia's Criminal Code which makes "insulting the President or Vice-President" punishable by up to six years imprisonment. Since late 2002, at least 14 political activists have been sentenced to prison terms and three others are facing charges under these provisions. In most cases, the activists have been arrested following their participation in peaceful demonstrations, Human Rights Watch notes.
Although political space for dissent has increased enormously since the fall of Soeharto, colonial-era laws limiting free expression remain on the books, and continue to enable authorities to arbitrarily target individuals. Human Rights Watch is calling on the Indonesian government to release all prisoners of conscience and to repeal the outdated laws. It also urges donor nations, including Japan, the European Union, the United States and Australia, to pressure Indonesia into removing those laws.
Read Human Rights Watch's report: http://hrw.org/reports/2003/indon0703/
ARTICLE 19 has also urged the Indonesian government to repeal criminal defamation laws.
Read its letter recently sent to Sukarnoputri: http://www.article19.org/docimages/1638.doc
Visit these links:
- Amnesty International: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa210272003
- International Press Institute: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Asia/indonesi.htm
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