Antiterror raids raise hackles<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Large-scale raids to find those responsible for the latest Bali
\nbombings have caused unease among some sections of the public,
\nand those who feel they have been unfairly treated have been
\nurged to file complaints against the police.<\/p>\n
A number of legislators and human rights activists said here
\non Thursday that those affected by abuses during the police-led
\nantiterror raids should sue the authorities.<\/p>\n
\"Following the recent Bali bombings, the government has been
\ncracking down on terrorists, and since then we have recorded a
\nseries of incidents of unacceptable treatment, including
\narbitrary arrests,\" Golkar legislator Yuddy Chrisnady told a
\njoint press conference held with several non-governmental
\norganizations (NGOs).<\/p>\n
He argued that such arrests contravened the newly ratified
\nUnited Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.<\/p>\n
The arrests were mostly made without warrants and the suspects
\nwere interrogated without having legal counsel present, Yuddy
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Nor were any efforts made to restore the good name of those
\nlater released by the police due to lack of evidence,\" he added.<\/p>\n
He said another abuse involved the use of information from the
\nstate intelligence services for investigation purposes without
\nthe seeking of court approval by the police.<\/p>\n
The Antiterrorism Law requires the police to secure court
\napproval for the use of such intelligence information in
\ninvestigating acts of terrorism.<\/p>\n
Usman Hamid from the National Commission on Missing Persons
\nand Victims of Violence (Kontras) expressed similar views, citing
\nas an example the arrest of Ahmad Djaelani on Rote island, East
\nNusa Tenggara, days after the Oct. 1 Bali attacks.<\/p>\n
Djaelani was thought to resemble Malaysian fugitive Azahari
\nbin Husin, an alleged key leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).<\/p>\n
\"Police officers dragged Djaelani from his home and did
\nnothing to stop angry locals from beating and kicking him. Later
\non, he was released but he almost got killed because of the
\nunfounded accusation,\" Usman said.<\/p>\n
Yuddy blamed poor coordination among intelligence agencies for
\nthe government's failure to stop the terror attacks, which began
\nto hit the country in 2000.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Benny K. Harman, a legislator from the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the Indonesian
\nMilitary's expressed intention of reactivating its territorial
\ncommands to help combat terrorism would only result in the common
\npeople being treated as the \"enemies of the state\".<\/p>\n
\"As long as the government fails to change its mind-set, I
\ndon't think that democracy will really take root here.\"<\/p>\n
Yuddy and Benny said they would encourage their fellow
\npoliticians to summon senior military, police and state
\nintelligence officers to evaluate what he said was the
\ngovernment's poor showing in protecting the people.<\/p>\n
\"The government should not blame innocent people for its own
\nfailure to provide security,\" said Benny.<\/p>\n
Yuddy also said he would call for a meeting to discuss what
\nthe military should do to assist the police in the fight against
\nterrorism.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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