Pacific Press Release – Pacific Media Watch

Tempo editorial: BOOK BANNING

The AGO has banned five books. It is time to protest to the  Constitutional Court.

JAKARTA (Tempo Magazine/Pacific Media Watch):  In dealing with books and freedom of expression, the Attorney General’s Office seems to have not changed at all.
During the dark days of both the Old and the New Order regimes, books were banned for inexplicable reasons. If not for disturbing public order, books were banned for disseminating Communism/Marxism-Leninism. Many were victimised. Books written by Pramoedya Ananta Toer were among them. Believe it or not, the AGO once even banned the Complete Atlas of Indonesia & the World (Atlas Lengkap Indonesia dan Dunia)—for reasons no one knew.

The bad practice continues 11 years after the fall of the New Order. Now the victims are Dalih Pembunuhan Massal (John Roosa), Suara Gereja bagi Umat Tertindas (Socratez Sofyan Yoman), Lekra Tak Membakar Buku (Rhoma Dwi Aria Yuliantri and Muhidin M. Dahlan), Enam Jalan Menuju Tuhan (Darmawan M.M.), and Mengungkap Misteri Keberagaman Agama (Syahruddin Ahmad).

The reasons given were a repeat of the old ones: to maintain public order. The AGO also seems to be at a loss for words to elaborate on what it had done. One official said: “Never mind, if a book is a threat to public order and disseminates Communist ideology, we surely will ban it.”

A threat to public order? Take Dalih Pembunuhan Massal which was written by a Canadian historian. The book clearly is not a manual to mobilise the masses to overthrow the government and therefore has no potential to incite unrest. Cited as one of the three best works presented at a recent International Convention of Asian Scholars in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the book was hailed as most comprehensive and convincing in its treatment of the
G30S tragedy. Disseminating Marxism-Leninism? With the death of the ideology, fears of it are as absurd as seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

The book was banned under Law No. 4/PNPS/1963 on Circulation of Printed Materials. Article 1 of the law provides that the AGO has the authority to ban printed materials deemed a threat to public order. There is also Law No. 16/2004 on Public Prosecutors of the Republic of Indonesia. Article 30 of this law provides that the public prosecutors have the authority to control the circulation of printed materials. In charge of enforcing these articles is a team made up of representatives from the prosecutor’s office, the police, and the State Intelligence Agency. Based on recommendations made by the team, the AGO would decide whether to ban the book in question.

Although there is a formal basis for the AGO to ban the five books, it should, however, think twice before doing so. Times have changed. The era of totalitarianism is over. Indonesia has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by Law No. 12/2005. The law guarantees the right of citizens to express their views and opinion, including by way of writing. Any book deemed a threat to public order should be referred to a civil court where the writer may defend himself and the judge decides whether it should be banned.

Both laws on the circulation of printed materials need be amended. Pending the start of the amendment process by
Parliament—which usually takes a long time to complete—a complaint may be filed with the Constitutional Court. Writers and publishers of the banned books should be proactive—because under the law only the victims are entitled to question the validity of the laws that disadvantage them and that violate the constitution. The five books may be the last to be banned. Without revision of the law, book banning will continue—for reasons that have never been put to test for validity.

Source: 6586 Pacific Media Watch
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