Military role in war on terror questioned<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Seeking the military's help to fight terrorism at home was a
\nrisky move that could worsen human rights and undermine the
\nefforts to create mature civilian rule, experts have warned.<\/p>\n
Against the background of subtle pressure from the United
\nStates for Indonesia to do more regarding its pledge to fight
\nterrorism, a greater military role might not be the right answer,
\nthey said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"We'll be just serving U.S. interests here as well as those of
\nthe military, which wants us to believe that by fighting
\nterrorism they'll be forgiven for their human rights abuses,\"
\nsaid Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
\nAssociation.<\/p>\n
\"What we're dealing mostly with here is state terrorism, and
\nthe military has been part of it.\"<\/p>\n
On Monday, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono
\nSutarto said the Army's counterterrorism unit was being drafted
\nin to help the police and the National Intelligence Agency (BNI)
\ncurb terrorist threats.<\/p>\n
Since 2000, the police have been in charge of internal
\nsecurity affairs, leaving the military's counterterrorism unit
\ninactive.<\/p>\n
The unit, to which the Army's elite force Kopassus belongs,
\nbecame infamous following a string of human rights violations.<\/p>\n
Among the cases involving Kopassus was the 1998 kidnapping of
\npolitical activists, many of whom are believed to have died.<\/p>\n
\"We have to define what terrorism means or else the military
\nwill label anybody they want to as a terrorist,\" Hendardi said.<\/p>\n
Analyst Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
\n(LIPI) warned that the government relied too much on the military
\nfor work that should be the responsibility of the civilian
\nauthorities.<\/p>\n
\"It's as if the military can run this country better (than
\ncivilians),\" Indria said.<\/p>\n
The government should have also first assessed the terrorist
\nthreat before deciding to ask for the military's help, said
\nPhilip J. Vermonte of the Centre for Strategic and International
\nStudies (CSIS).<\/p>\n
\"If the police, BIN and the immigration office can cope with
\nthe threat, then there's no need for the military,\" Philip said,
\nadding that an alternative could be to beef up the police and
\nBIN's counterterrorist capabilities.<\/p>\n
Moves to reactivate the TNI's counterterrorism unit came after
\nU.S. intelligence warned of a terrorist threat in Jakarta that
\nled to the U.S. Embassy closure last month.<\/p>\n
Surprised by the move, government officials said they had not
\nbeen informed of any threat beforehand.<\/p>\n
The warning about a possible attack on the U.S. Embassy had
\ncome from Omar al-Faruq, an alleged terrorist caught in West Java
\nlast June who was turned over to the Americans, according to a
\nTime magazine report.<\/p>\n
When news of al-Faruq's arrest first surfaced in connection
\nwith the embassy closure, the initial government reaction was one
\nof denial.<\/p>\n
The National Police and the Indonesian Military have said al-
\nFaruq did not exist. But according to media reports, the
\noperation to arrest al-Faruq was led by Major Andika from
\nKopassus and the son-in-law of BIN chief Lt. Gen. (ret) AM
\nHendropriyono.<\/p>\n
The police and the military then changed their stance, finally
\nadmitting they were aware of the arrest.<\/p>\n
Military sources could not say who had ordered Andika to
\narrest al-Faruq.<\/p>\n
Local officials have also thus far failed to quote U.S.
\nofficials in confirming the Time magazine and other media
\nreports.<\/p>\n
The only link between the reports and the official U.S. stance
\nmay be Karen Brook, a member of the White House National Security
\nCouncil, who met President Megawati Soekarnoputri two weeks ago
\nin Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Details of their meeting are sketchy but the International
\nHerald Tribune on Tuesday reported that Brooks laid out the case
\nfor action based on al-Faruq's arrest.<\/p>\n
Quoting an official familiar with what transpired during the
\nmeeting, it said Megawati had reached the same conclusions as the
\nU.S. had reached.<\/p>\n
Days after, the police announced the arrest of German citizen
\nSeyam Reda, another terrorist suspect, in whose home the police
\nfound tapes showing a militant training camp.<\/p>\n
The tapes were played in front of senior media representatives
\nand high ranking government, police and military officials on
\nMonday, in an apparent move to gain more support from the media
\nfor the government's new-found zeal in the fight against
\nterrorism.<\/p>\n
Monday's meeting came as an apparent attempt at damage
\ncontainment after officials here had first played down the
\nterrorist threat, and then responded to the new information with
\ncontradictory statements.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia's position has been clear and consistent,\"
\nCoordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono said during the meeting.<\/p>\n
The government officials also met with several ulemas on
\nTuesday. But the leaders of the nation's two largest Muslim
\norganizations -- Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah -- were not
\npresent.<\/p>\n
BIN chief Hendropriyono was absent from both meetings.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/military-role-in-war-on-terror-questioned-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }