INDONESIAN MILITARY TO PLAY BIGGER ROLE IN COUNTERTERRORISM by Fardah

Jakarta, June 13. 2017  (Antara) - Terrorism is an extraordinary crime that could threaten Indonesia's sovereignty, therefore the fight against it needs participation of every possible stakeholder, particularly police and military.

        In Indonesia, the National Police (Polri) is indeed the main law enforcement institution that has carried out the fight against terrorism so far, through their  counterterrorism special squad Densus 88, and CounterTerrorism Agency (BNPT).

         The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), however, has frequently supported the Police in operation to fight terrorists in several cases so far.

       But, the government wishes to see a bigger role of the military in eradicating terrorism.

        Currently, a special committee of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) is in the process of revising Law No. 15 Year 2003 on Counterterrorism.         
   President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has expressed his hope that the DPR could conclude the revision as soon as possible and the revised law could clearly describe the role of TNI in the counterterrorism efforts in this country.         
    "I would like the anti-terror bill to immediately be pursued in the house and with the minister of political, legal, and security affairs, and I would like the discussion related to the bill to be completed as soon as possible," President Jokowi said recently.   
    The president also wants the revised law to mention the involvement of the Indonesian military in fighting terrorism.

        "Give the TNI the authority under the law. Certainly with reasons, which I think the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and  Security Affairs has prepared," he said.      
    The bill to revise the Law No 15 Year 2003 proposed by the government stipulates that the Indonesian military should act as one of the assisting parties to the National Police, the authorized institution to maintain domestic security, in thwarting terrorist acts.

        The Parliament has responded positively to the President's hope by ensuring that the involvement of the TNI is final in the fight against terrorism.

         M. Syafi'i, the special committee's chairman and a legislator of the Gerindra Party, revealed recently that the team is keen to synchronize the authorities of the TNI, police, and the Agency for Protection of Witnesses and Victims (LPSK), which is in accordance with the Law on Counterterrorism.

         Terrorism is also a threat to the country, hence the TNI has the authority to deal with it, he remarked.

         Vice President Jusuf Kalla recently said that the involvement of the military in fighting terrorism would depend upon needs and would also need better coordination with other security agencies.

         "Yes, it would depend upon the needs. TNI also has superiorities and we need more of them, but there must be good coordination," he said.

          Regarding criticism that the military's involvement would increase the risk of human rights violations, the vice president stated that terrorism was a cruel criminal act, and security forces would respond for the sake of the safety of citizens and state interests.

          "It is all for the interests of the state and the people. They are inseparable. A nation consists of people. So it is not a human right issue. It is needed because terrorism is a crime and an evil, and so it would not run against human rights," he stated.

        Although the government wished that the revision process could be speeded up, it would not intend to produce a government regulation in lieu of that, because the Law Number 15, 2003 is still effective enough to fight terrorism.

          Kalla revealed that the revision of the anti-terrorism law is part of efforts to increase the performance of the government and security agencies to overcome terrorism from an early stage.

         One of the aims of the revision is to give authority to intelligence agency to take preventive measures to be allowed to conduct interrogation on a person or a meeting suspected to be connected with terrorism.

         The government's wish to give a bigger role to the military in counterterrorism efforts has been lauded by several parties, including from the country's second largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah.

        The Central Executive Board of the Muhammadiyah Youths said it agrees to involve the military in the fight against terrorism in Indonesia as it is already regulated in the Law No. 34 of 2004 on the TNI.

        According to the Law No. 34 there are three basic duties of TNI, first to maintain the country's sovereignty, second to defend the national integrity and third to protect the nation from any threat, chairman of the Islamic youth organization Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said.

         Fear of potential human right violation with the involvement of TNI is too exaggerated, he said, pointing out that one of the institutions successful in carrying out reform is the TNI, which must have taken a lesson from past experience.

        The Special Committee for the Revision of Law No. 15 of 2003 on Counterterrorism has been focusing on finalizing the revision under the coordination of DPR's high-ranking officials.

         House Speaker Setya Novanto affirmed his commitment to speeding up the discussion phase of the law revision, as requested by President Jokowi. Hopefully, the revised law will finish before November this year. ***2***
(f001/H-YH)