Antiterror raids raise hackles
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Large-scale raids to find those responsible for the latest Bali bombings have caused unease among some sections of the public, and those who feel they have been unfairly treated have been urged to file complaints against the police.
A number of legislators and human rights activists said here on Thursday that those affected by abuses during the police-led antiterror raids should sue the authorities.
"Following the recent Bali bombings, the government has been cracking down on terrorists, and since then we have recorded a series of incidents of unacceptable treatment, including arbitrary arrests," Golkar legislator Yuddy Chrisnady told a joint press conference held with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
He argued that such arrests contravened the newly ratified United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The arrests were mostly made without warrants and the suspects were interrogated without having legal counsel present, Yuddy said.
"Nor were any efforts made to restore the good name of those later released by the police due to lack of evidence," he added.
He said another abuse involved the use of information from the state intelligence services for investigation purposes without the seeking of court approval by the police.
The Antiterrorism Law requires the police to secure court approval for the use of such intelligence information in investigating acts of terrorism.
Usman Hamid from the National Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) expressed similar views, citing as an example the arrest of Ahmad Djaelani on Rote island, East Nusa Tenggara, days after the Oct. 1 Bali attacks.
Djaelani was thought to resemble Malaysian fugitive Azahari bin Husin, an alleged key leader of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).
"Police officers dragged Djaelani from his home and did nothing to stop angry locals from beating and kicking him. Later on, he was released but he almost got killed because of the unfounded accusation," Usman said.
Yuddy blamed poor coordination among intelligence agencies for the government's failure to stop the terror attacks, which began to hit the country in 2000.
Meanwhile, Benny K. Harman, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the Indonesian Military's expressed intention of reactivating its territorial commands to help combat terrorism would only result in the common people being treated as the "enemies of the state".
"As long as the government fails to change its mind-set, I don't think that democracy will really take root here."
Yuddy and Benny said they would encourage their fellow politicians to summon senior military, police and state intelligence officers to evaluate what he said was the government's poor showing in protecting the people.
"The government should not blame innocent people for its own failure to provide security," said Benny.
Yuddy also said he would call for a meeting to discuss what the military should do to assist the police in the fight against terrorism.