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House asked to open up closed-door discussion on terrorism bill
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On guard -- Police personnel conduct a counterterrorism investigation in Cemani, Sukoharjo, Central Java, on Dec. 13.
(JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
C
ivil society organizations are protesting the ongoing closed-door deliberation of a bill on terrorism, demanding for a transparent discussion in order to allow the public to be involved in monitoring the bill that aims to comprehensively regulate counter terrorism efforts in the country.
The legal think tank the Institute for Criminal Justice (ICJR) has questioned the reasons for the House of Representatives to close off the deliberation process from public, arguing that the “ongoing inaccessible discussion violates the right to information, especially when it is related to a policy that will impact on the life of many.”
ICJR executive director Supriyadi Widodo Eddyono cited the problem of the fate of victims of terror attacks as one of the crucial issues that the group had been monitoring.
“But a closed-door discussion will lock out victims as well as rights campaigners from ensuring that the bill will accommodate the rights of those who suffer from terror attacks,” he said on Tuesday.
A special working committee tasked with discussing the contours of the bill resumed discussion on Jan. 10 and Jan. 13 after a month of recess in December last year. Both meetings were restricted from the public, a decision that also raised protest from other civil society groups that focus on security sector reform such as Imparsial, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy and the Setara Institute. (dmr)
