Govt : Amendment to Anti-terrorism Law Not Violate Human Right

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto promised that the amendment to Antiterrorism Law will not violate human rights. He claimed that the Law No. 15/2003 on the prosecution of terrorism criminal act will not go that far when it is later officiated.

"We guarantee that Antiterrorism Law will not be misused," Wiranto said in his office on Friday, May 26.

The amendment to the law came to the surface after Kampung Melayu bombing incident last Wednesday. This incident that took five lives made President Joko Widodo urge the amendment of the law to be completed immediately.

The amendment of the Antiterrorism Law has not yet completed since last year due to its problematic content. One of the problems is Article 43a which stipulates that the investigator or District Attorney is allowed to take prevention measures and to arrest and confine a terrorism suspect for six months to anticipate terrorism. This article is considered harmful by a number of human rights activists since it can be used to take innocent people into custody as in the new order regime.

Wiranto claimed that he has taken such concerns into account and will make changes to the problematic articles. He will try to eliminate the articles that have the potentials to be misused. He firmly stated that the government demands a proportional yet strict regulation, not an overly strict, subversive law.

ISTMAN MP