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ctivists are condemning as repressive a draft bill on mass organizations currently under deliberation by the House of Representatives.

If endorsed into law as expected in February, the bill could be used as a basis to introduce repressive measures against local and international NGOs and civil society organizations deemed a threat to the nation.

The bill, which has been under deliberation for the past two years, would allow crackdowns on groups promoting ideologies that conflict with Pancasila or the notion of the Unitary State of the Republic of
Indonesia (NKRI).

Articles 2 and 3 of the latest draft of the bill would, for example, require that mass organizations conform to the 1945 Constitution and the principles of Pancasila, while foreign organizations in Indonesia would have to conform with Pancasila in their daily operations.

Article 41 authorizes the imposition of sanctions on foreign groups that engage in espionage, politics, local fund raising or that benefit from state-sponsored facilities.

All foreign organizations currently raising funds in Indonesia would have to incorporate state ideology into their operations to the satisfaction of government officials or potentially face dissolution or criminal penalties.

Prominent rights campaigner and lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution said that the bill was unnecessary.

“The bill on mass organizations will only hand over power to regulate every aspect of the lives of citizens,” Adnan told reporters on the sidelines of a hearing at the House on Monday.

“The state will only treat the people as slaves; while in fact the country belongs to the people. The people should monitor the state and not the other way around,” Adnan said.

Contacted separately, Poengky Indarti of the human rights watchdog Imparsial agreed, saying that the bill would curtail freedom of expression in Indonesia.

“The bill on mass organization will silence all groups that are critical of the government’s policies,” Poengky said. “This will encourage the New Order’s repressive regime to reemerge, a regime that controlled every single move of the people.”

Poengky said that the prolonged deliberations were evidence that popular support for authoritarian leadership had returned to the country.

Rights activist Kristina Viri has started an online petition to stop deliberations on the bill at change.org.

The petition was addressed to members of the House committee working on the bill; its chairman, Abdul Malik Haramain; and the leadership of the House.

“All organizations could be suspended by the government pending a verification of their status. Organizations might be condemned illegal for administrative reasons,” the petition said.

Abdul said that the deliberations would continue, despite the criticism. “We must proceed according to plan, because we believe that this bill can be used to manage thousands of organizations, local and international, that are present all over the archipelago.”

“It’s not true that we intend to repress the people. We just want to better manage all the civil groups in operation,” Abdul, a politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB), said.

“As for foreign groups, of course we need to closely monitor them, because they are free to operate these days. I want to ensure that not all groups are banned,” he added.

The House has received petitions from local groups calling for the disbandment of foreign NGOs, such as Greenpeace, whose director, John Sauven, was refused entry to Indonesia by officials who said the decision was based on reports that said that Greenpeace had created “difficulties” for the Indonesian government.