Avoid conflict and remember people, House told

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 08/30/2007 1:54 PM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Legislators should avoid conflicts of public interests in finalizing the public information and state secrecy bills now under deliberation, a military observer told a discussion on Wednesday.

Kusnanto Anggoro said the potential for a conflict of interest existed in both bills.

The public information bill would help citizens monitor management of public institutions and the state secrecy bill would tend to classify as state secrets as much information as possible.

""I hope the House of Representative members will limit the definition of state secrets to the way a state responds to external military threats -- and not more than that,"" he said.

""If House members fail to limit the substantial coverage of the definition of state secrecy, I am afraid that many state institutions would use it to reduce transparency on policies and implementations.""

The public information bill, which aims to disclose government-related information to the public, has been in discussion for nearly six years since the House first agreed to deliberate it.

House members were currently discussing exemptions, or matters that are not to be publicly disclosed because they could endanger the security of either individuals or the state.

Exceptions cover personal medical records, personal bank accounts, military strategies and facilities as well as some intelligence policies.

""All of the exceptions, however, must be applied flexibly,"" Kusnanto said.

""For example, if a court commands investigators to examine cases at military facilities, they must be allowed to conduct their investigations.""

The public information bill currently allows dossiers and personal medical information to be disclosed to the public as soon as they are used in a trial or needed for a criminal investigation.

If the public information bill is passed into law, Indonesia would join more than 60 countries worldwide with implemented laws on public access to state information.

The United States endorsed its law on public information in 1966.

Currently, every U.S. state government agency must provide a place for the people to request public information on their websites.

A member of the House Commission I overseeing defense and information affairs, Hajriyanto Y. Tohari, said House members were discussing the public information bill to protect and benefit the people.

""We are going to do the same with the state secrecy bill, where we will fight to limit the term of state secrecy so that it will not create reasons for the government to limit public access to important information,"" he said.

Hajriyanto said legislators would deliberate the state secrecy bill as soon as possible.

Once passed, the public information law would allow the people to take action in disputes against state institutions on information.

The bill also stipulated the government establish a commission on information to handle said disputes. (10)

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