The Jakarta Globe, July 28, 2013.
Stronger law enforcement, not mass organizations bill, needed to crackdown on Indonesia's hard-line Islamists
As pressures mounts for the government to disband a notorious hard-line Muslim group, one activist expressed concerns about how it should be done.
Ray Rangkuti from pro-democracy group, the Indonesian Civil Circle (LIMA), said many have called the government to implement the controversial Mass Organization Law and use it to disband the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).
Members of the hard-line group more than a week ago clashed with residents of Kendal, Central Java, over a raid on what the FPI said was a brothel operating during the Ramadan fasting month.
Outnumbered, FPI members attempted to flee using a hired truck, but the vehicle hit and killed a bystander, which only served to further fuel local residents’ anger.
Days after the clash, 50 members of the Makassar chapter of the FPI wrecked a small shop serving beer in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The incident was captured on video and uploaded to YouTube, causing a sensation online. Police subsequently arrested three men allegedly involved in the attack.
Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said on Thursday that the group, implicated in a long history of vandalism cases across the country, has disrupted public order and could be permanently disbanded under the new law.
But Ray said that using the law to disband the FPI would be a setback to pro-democracy groups’ struggle to have it repealed.
“It will legitimize the Mass Organization Law as if it has been socially accepted,” he said on Saturday.
Last month, a divided House of Representatives enacted the law, despite arguments that it would restrict freedom of assembly and could pave the way for a crackdown of organizations critical to the government.
“Right now, NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] are trying hard to get the law repealed through legal and political channels. Using the Mass Organization Law to disband the FPI will undo those efforts,” Ray said.
Ray said the government should use other means to dissuade the hard-line group from future acts of violence by ensuring that members who violate the law are no longer be granted impunity and lenient punishment.
In 2011, a court in Bekasi, West Java, gave light sentences to 13 FPI members, including the local head Murhali Barda, who is linked to an attack on members of a Protestant church congregation.
Murhali was sentenced to five months and 15 days in jail for “unpleasant conduct.”
Golkar Party politician Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa agreed that better law enforcement is key, saying that disbanding the FPI using the Mass Organization Law would only lead group members to form another hard-line organization under a new name.
“These incidents will continue if the government is not consistent in upholding the law,” he said.
National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the police were developing several vandalism cases of FPI becoming involved in incidents in Kendal and Makassar.
Still, many have criticized the police’s protracted investigation, saying that they are not taking action fast enough.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that he will not use his authority to disband the FPI without first consulting the country’s major Islamic organizations.
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zo 28 jul 2013 - 7:16