Dual antiterror units cause overlap<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After reading a media report on police arrests of Muslim
\nactivists by the National Police's counterterrorism unit
\nDetachment 88, member Agus (not his real name) denied the unit
\nmade such arrests, let alone tortured the suspects.<\/p>\n
Upon reading another daily which reported that the unit was to
\nbe dissolved, he shook his head in disbelief and said Indonesia
\nbadly needed a special counterterrorism team.<\/p>\n
\"Our duties are to interrogate and prepare dossiers of terror
\nsuspects. But there is a separate unit within the National Police
\ntasked with investigating and arresting suspects,\" said Agus.<\/p>\n
The National Police has two units tasked with fighting
\nterrorism: One is the 400-strong Detachment 88, or Den 88, led by
\nBrig. Gen. Pranowo Dahlan, another is an ad hoc antiterror squad
\nled by Brig. Gen. Gorries Mere, who appears to have dominated the
\npolice's antiterrorism efforts.<\/p>\n
Gorries, who sparked outrage last week for having coffee with
\nconvicted Bali bomber Ali Imron at a Starbuck's in the capital,
\nhas an official post as the anti-narcotics division chief, while
\nPranowo is the antiterror director under the National Police
\nchief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono.<\/p>\n
\"Based on a police chief decree, the official counterterrorism
\nunit is Detachment 88, while the bomb squad is a temporary unit.
\nThe bomb squad continues to operate, probably because terrorist
\nthreats remain high,\" said a senior police officer.<\/p>\n
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman said as the bomb
\nsquad chief, Gorries was under the direct command of National
\nPolice chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.<\/p>\n
A police source said the Gorries-led squad had more influence
\nthan Detachment 88, and also had more members.<\/p>\n
The two units apparently lack coordination, with officers from
\none often unable to confirm arrests of terror suspects made by
\nanother.<\/p>\n
\"The two squads have caused difficulties in command. If
\nGorries is thought to have expertise in terrorism, he should have
\nbeen appointed as the counterterrorism chief, instead of Pranowo.
\nIt isn't right to have an overlap like this,\" said Bambang
\nWidodo, a former police officer, now a lecturer at the University
\nof Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He said the success in the Bali blast investigation showed
\nGorries' capabilities in handling terrorism cases, which prompted
\nDa'i to continue to rely upon Gorries unofficially.<\/p>\n
Detachment 88 was formed after the 2002 Bali bombings, and was
\nplanned to become an elite police unit equal to the Army's
\nKopassus.<\/p>\n
The Pranowo-led squad was trained last year in the Mega
\nMendung police training Center, West Java, by experts from the
\nCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of
\nInvestigation (FBI) and other intelligence agencies.<\/p>\n
In addition, the U.S. government provided US$16 billion to
\nequip and train the squad.<\/p>\n
For the Bali bombing investigation, the police consulted
\nGorries' expertise and pulled together an ad hoc team led by
\nInsp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika, who was then the Papua Police
\nchief.<\/p>\n
Personnel from various units in the detectives department were
\nhand-picked for the team, but its backbone was the Jakarta Police
\nantiterror unit. All of the antiterror officers included on the
\nteam were former members of Gorries' Cobra Team, which had
\narrested former president Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo \"Tommy\"
\nMandala Putra.<\/p>\n
After the 2003 JW Marriott Hotel blast, arrests of Muslim
\nactivists were always attributed to both units.<\/p>\n
According to Fauzan Al Anzhary, who chairs the Indonesian
\nMujahidin Council, about 140 Muslim activists had been arrested
\nor \"kidnapped\" by the units, and the council demanded their
\ndissolution recently.<\/p>\n
Amid the controversy, the National Police is to expand Den 88
\nto the provincial level, beginning with Jakarta, where the unit
\nwas inaugurated on Aug. 26.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dual-antiterror-units-cause-overlap-1447899208",
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