Govt to disband anarchic organizations

In response to this week`s two violent acts which led to the death of three Ahmadis and the destruction of three churches, the government is now making an inventory to disband anarchic mass and non-governmental organizations.

"We will not tolerate anarchic organizations. Those who committed violations will be acted upon based on the law in force, no matter who they are," Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said.

The disbandment of anarchic organizations can be carried out on their local branches or on their central executive boards, depending on where the violations they have committed.

The district head will the duty to freeze or disband a mass organization which violated regulations in the district level, the governor would do so if the violation was committed in the provincial level and the central government would take action against those which violated regulations in the national level.

According to Minister of Law and Human Rights Patrialis Akabar, anarchic mass organizations (Ormas) and non-governmental organizations (NGO) could be disbanded if they committed anarchic acts that disadvantaged the people and state.

"Ormas or NGO which commit violent acts could be dissolved by apparatuses in the fields," the minister said here on Friday. He said the disbandment of a mass organization or a non-governmental organization would be done by the ministry of home affairs while their legal status by the ministry of law and human rights.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said his side was collecting data and evidence on mass organizations which had committed violence and disturbed public order. Those which were proved to have committed violence and disturbed security as well as public order would be acted upon based on the law in force.

The sanctions to be taken ranging from lenient to the heaviest one, which is the disbandment of the organizations concerned.

"I have ordered the directorate general for unity and political affairs to coordinate with police and the prosecutor`s office to collect data on those which so far have been proven to have committed violations. We will make an inventory and evaluation based on their respective scale," the home affairs minister said.

He said that the district head would freeze or disband a mass organizations which violated regulations in the district level, the governor would do so if the violation was committed in the provincial level and the central government would take action against those which violated the regulations in the national level.

The minister said that if an organization still committed violation even if it had been frozen, then it would be disbanded. "We will not tolerate anarchic organizations. Those who committed violations will be acted upon based on the law in force, no matter who they are," the minister said.

Law No. 8 / 1985 on Societal Organizations has regulated the disbandment of a mass organization which violated regulations. Based on the law, the government can freeze the central executive board of a mass organization of it carries out activities which disturb security and public order.

In the meantime, the Jakarta police said they were ready to execute any decision made by the government regarding organizations that often resort to violence. "We are ready to enforce any decision now still being discussed by state officials," the Jakarta Police`s public relations officer, Senior Commissioner Baharudin Djafar, said.

The Jakarta police could not as yet take any action with regard to the organization considered having been anarchic as they were still waiting for a decision to be made by ministers and other officials concerned.

Police do not have the authority to dissolve an organization. But the Jakarta police had developed communication informally with a number of mass organizations to recognize their identities.

The discussion over the future of anarchic organizations was done following the attack on Ahmadiyah minority Islamic sect in Cikeusik, Pandeglang, Banten, on Sunday that left three people dead.

Two churches meanwhile had been burned and another one vandalized during rioting in Temanggung, Central Java, on Tuesday, over dissatisfaction over a sentence to a defendant in a blasphemy case.

Earlier, different quarters have called on the government to dissolve violent organizations. Deputy Chairman of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hemas urged the government disband anarchic organizations.

"Law enforcers must soon implement the president`s instruction to dissolve mass organizations which committed violations," Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hemas said at the parliament building here on Thursday.

She made the remarks in response the violent acts committed by groups of people who attacked followers of the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect in Bandeglang, Banten, on Sunday and churches in Temanggung, Central Java last Tuesday.

The same call was also raised by legal and political observer Nicolaus Pira Bunga of the University of Nusa Cendana, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. Nicolaus said that Police Chief Timur Pradopo should immediately disband should mass organizations which obviously acted under the name of a religion to attack followers of other religion.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has sent a clear sign for the disbandment of such organizations, but police were less responsive so that violence like that in Banten and Central Java," Nocolaus said.

He said that mass organizations or community groups who resorted to violence must be thoroughly investigated and dissolved.

However, human right activists did not support the disbandment of such an organization, saying the dissolve of an organization was not a solution to solve violence.

"The suggestion of President Yudhoyono for the dissolution of anarchic organizations is not unusual because the matter has become the people`s aspiration since long ago," M Ridha Saleh, commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) said.

He said that the government should think carefully before disbanding an organization because it was not a good solution. It should find a correct solution to solve the essence of violence. So far, violence in Indonesia has happened not incidentally, it always has a background. "The government has to find and solve this," he said.(*)
Source: ANTARA