A

ctivists said on Monday that Indonesia could either maintain the spirit of democracy or return to the era of excessive restriction tantamount to what was seen during the New Order.

National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Roichatul Aswidah said since the nation embarked on the reform movement 18 years ago, the government had taken several steps to uphold the freedom of speech and democracy, including through the implementation of the 1999 Press Law, the 1999 Human Rights Law, an amendment to the human rights provision in the Constitution and the ratifications of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

“We should acknowledge that there has been an improvement in terms of creating a more democratic environment than during the 32 years of the New Order,” Roichatul said on Monday during a discussion on freedom of expression after 18 years of reformasi in Cikini, Central Jakarta.

She was participating in the discussion along with Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) researcher Wahyudi Djafar, Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) senior researcher Anggara and Indonesian Science Institute (LIPI) political researcher Irine Hiraswari Gayatri.

Wahyudi said, however, that the freedom of expression was in jeopardy, with a widespread crackdown on the use of communist symbolism and threats by hard-line groups for academic discussions on Marxism.

Police, military officials and hard-line groups, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the FKKPPI, are using the 1999 State Security Law as their basis for the crackdown on events they deem as efforts to advocate leftist teachings with the intention to change the country’s governing ideology of Pancasila.

Wahyudi said the imposition of the law had resulted in limitations to freedom of expression akin to during the New Order.

“The recent crackdown on the perceived use of communist symbolism nationwide is proof that there are still limitations within the government. The Press Law and the Human Rights Law in 1999 did not help too much in protecting citizens,” Wahyudi told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the discussion.

“In recent years, the government has used the law, such as the 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction [ITE] Law, to coerce the freedom of expression,” he added.

ELSAM previously reported that there were 45 cases of criminalization threatening freedom of speech on online platforms in 2015. It also registered that there were 35 cases of repression on offline platforms, 20 of which related to the 1965 communist purge, last year.

Another screening of Pulau Buru: Tanah Air Beta (Pulau Buru: My Homeland), a documentary about political prisoners sent to the prison island after the purge, at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) received threats from hard-liners on Monday.

ICJR senior researcher Anggara said that the situation could further threaten democracy, providing the House of Representatives did not revise several provisions in an amendment to the Criminal Code (KUHP) amendment, ranging from possible criminal offenses for defaming the president and vice president and casting contempt upon the nation’s flag and national anthem, to the dissemination of communism and Marxism-Leninism ideologies. (mos)
___________________________________