Legislative oversight and the war on terror<\/p>\n
Bantarto Bandoro, Jakarta<\/p>\n
\"The proper office of a representative assembly is to watch
\nand control the government.\" (John Stuart Mill, 1861)<\/p>\n
\"Terrorism, like war, is too important to be left to the
\ngenerals and the government intelligence agencies.\" (Paul
\nWilkinson, 1977)<\/p>\n
These quotations suggest that greater outside scrutiny of the
\ngovernment's counterterrorism policies, for example, by
\nlegislators, is not only desirable, but urgently necessary.<\/p>\n
The current government's counterterrorism policies seem to
\nreflect the involvement only of intelligence officers, either
\nfrom the police, National Intelligence Agency (BIN) or the
\nmilitary, who happen to be generals or retired generals.<\/p>\n
The war on terrorism cannot be executed by the intelligence
\nservices or components of the military alone. The House of
\nRepresentatives should also have a part to play. What the House
\ncan do is not only react to unexpected events, but also give
\nvaluable judgments and formulate policy prescriptions.<\/p>\n
With regards to the second Bali bombings, House members were
\nquick to react by calling for the National Intelligence Agency
\nand the police to appear before the House to provide an
\nexplanation. Is this as far as the legislators can go in such
\ncase? There is actually a lot more to be done by the House.<\/p>\n
But they seem to be groping in the dark as to the causes of
\nterrorism and their plan of actions. We rarely see legislators
\nhere involved, publicly, in heated debates as to what causes
\nterrorism. With the second Bali bombings, perhaps it is time for
\nthem to go beyond what they think and see as their primary
\nconcerns.<\/p>\n
Since the first Bali bombings in 2002, we have enacted a
\nseries of counterterrorism measures and policies, from the
\nantiterror law and the establishment of antiterror detachments,
\nto the disbursement of funds provided by donors countries.
\nPrivate and formal sectors have praised the government for its
\nefforts to counter the threat of terrorism. But there has still
\nbeen a series of bombings that authorities were unable to
\nprevent.<\/p>\n
Now it is time for the House to develop policies as well as
\nkeep track of all government organizations that deal directly
\nwith the war on terror, particularly the intelligence services.<\/p>\n
The House, as an oversight institution, should ensure that the
\ngovernment, through its security agencies, makes the best use of
\nits tools in combating terrorism. It should also ensure that
\ncivil rights are not ignored by the need for increased security.<\/p>\n
And given the ongoing war on terror and the threat of future
\nterror attacks, it is clear that more policy attention on the
\npart of the House, as well as the executive branch, is not only
\ndesirable, but urgent.<\/p>\n
It is within this context that close supervision by the House
\nis imperative to ensure the security agencies, in particular the
\nintelligence services, the police and the military, use their
\npower effectively and in a way that does not unduly compromise
\nthe civil liberties of the people.<\/p>\n
The need for outside supervision of the government's
\ncounterterrorism policies is more urgent than ever because of the
\ncontinued and perceived weaknesses in coordinating the different
\npolicies.<\/p>\n
It is not clear whether House Commission I for security,
\ndefense and foreign relations has exercised any supervisory role
\nover the government's counterterrorism policies.<\/p>\n
Politicians, as many here have acknowledged, sometimes spend
\ntoo much time looking after their parochial interests. Since the
\nfirst Bali bombings, we have rarely seen politicians get involved
\nin the heated public debate over terrorism, or come up with their
\nown concept of the war on terror, or keep a close watch over the
\ncomplex security sector.<\/p>\n
The question one might ask is whether our legislators are
\nmindful of their power over the government's conduct of the war
\non terror, or if they are simply not prepared to better acquaint
\nthemselves with this complex issues?<\/p>\n
The writer is the director of scientific infrastructure and
\npublications, and the chief editor of The Indonesian Quarterly,
\nat the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, in
\nJakarta. He is also a lecturer in the International Relations
\nGraduate Program at the School of Social and Political Sciences,
\nthe University of Indonesia. He can be reached at
\nbandoro@csis.or.id.<\/p>",
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