RI antiterror policy should focus on prevention: Analysts<\/p>\n
Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite making progress in clamping down on suspected
\nterrorists, Indonesia lacks a comprehensive policy to combat
\nterrorism and puts too much weight on responding to possible
\nattacks rather than preventing them, analysts said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Terrorism should remain a high concern throughout this year
\neven as public attention starts to shift toward the 2004 general
\nelection, they said.<\/p>\n
About 70,000 foreigners have fought or trained in Afghanistan
\nand half of them are from Southeast Asia, said foreign
\nanalyst Edy Prasetyono of the Centre for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies (CSIS).<\/p>\n
"But the government doesn't track their movements, so where
\nare they now?" he said, speaking at a media conference on
\nIndonesia's economic and political outlook.<\/p>\n
He added that Indonesia's slack control over its sea and air
\nspace meant that people could easily move about without
\ndetection.<\/p>\n
"What we need is a policy on combating terrorism -- a policy
\nthat is comprehensive, coherent and integral," said CSIS military
\nanalyst Rizal Sukma.<\/p>\n
He said the government had so far only focused its efforts on
\nresponding to terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
On that front, much has been achieved since the Oct. 12 Bali
\nbombing, which killed more than 190 people, mainly foreign
\ntourists.<\/p>\n
Indonesia set up an antiterrorist desk to bypass bureaucracy
\namong the authorities that handle security affairs. Slow
\nintelligence sharing and a lack of coordination were a source of
\ncriticism against the government.<\/p>\n
The police went out of their way to show steady progress in
\nthe Bali bombing investigation, and have detained 15 bombing
\nsuspects with the help of the Australian Police.<\/p>\n
Military antiterror exercises also intensified in the wake of
\nthe bombing. These measures and the passing of an antiterrorism
\nruling in less than a month after the bombing turned some of the
\ncriticism into praise.<\/p>\n
"For 2003, however, the issue of preventing terrorism, called
\ncounterterrorism, should be of greater importance," Rizal said,
\nadding that preventing terrorist attacks required measures on a
\nmuch broader front than what the government had taken so far.<\/p>\n
The government should do more about transnational crimes, such
\nas money laundering, the smuggling of small arms and immigration
\nissues, he said.<\/p>\n
"If someone can easily obtain an identification card, while
\nthat person is, say, holding a Dutch passport, than we have a
\nreal problem here," Rizal said.<\/p>\n
CSIS analyst Edy Prasetyono said the antiterrorist bill
\ncontained measures to take against terrorist strikes, but left
\nout details on measures to prevent them.<\/p>\n
"How do we control the movement of people and their financial
\nsources," he asked. "The war against terrorism is a war of
\nintelligence."<\/p>\n
The antiterrorism bill could instead pose a greater risk to
\ncivil liberties than being helpful in fighting terrorism, Edy
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Rights activists have warned of a draconian law with which an
\nauthoritarian regime could suppress democracy. Edy explained that
\nthe concerns arose from the public's lack of trust in the
\ngovernment. Although Singapore and Malaysia both impose tough
\nsecurity laws, there were few objections because the public
\ntrusted their governments.<\/p>\n
"The government here must strike a balance between guarding
\nsecurity and upholding civil rights," said Edy.<\/p>",
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