Antiterrorism bill ensures human rights

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Proposed antiterrorism legislation says that combating terrorist acts must not violate the law, human rights or discriminate against people based on tribes, race, religion or groups.

The latest draft law, obtained by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, says that cases taken to court under antiterrorism legislation will respect Criminal Code procedures, unless the antiterrorism law stipulates otherwise in exceptional circumstances.

The bill defines terrorism as an illegal act carried out intentionally that endangers people and their belongings or sparks widespread destruction, fear or causes deaths.

Terrorism, therefore, can be judged as damage to a range of targets, including assets, the environment, state secrets, culture, education, the economy, technology and industry.

The bill threatens terrorists with a minimum three years in jail and a maximum sentence of death.

Capital punishment will also be imposed on terrorists who commit attacks using airplanes, or those who misuse chemical, biological or nuclear materials, it says.

Those who have the intention to carry out such attacks could be sentenced to up to 15 years jail, the bill reads.

Anyone who smuggles in or out of Indonesia, or manufactures, receives, hides, or uses weapons, ammunition or explosives with the intention to terrorize others will also face death.

A company convicted of organizing a terrorist act will be fined Rp 1 trillion (US$111 million) and will be dissolved and declared a banned organization.

The bill also says that investigators, prosecutors and judges can order banks to block and disclose accounts and other properties of suspected terrorists. When investigating terrorism, the bill stipulates that bank secrecy laws do not count.

The government and the House of Representatives said Monday they had agreed to debate the bill as part of efforts to combat international terrorism in the country.

But human rights activists Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Advocacy Association (PBHI) and Daniel Pandjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) urged the government not to rush to endorse the bill.

"I don't see the relevance yet as we have not yet suffered from the terrorist acts described in the bill," Hendardi said on Tuesday.

"Introduce it to the public first, but get feedback, consider it and endorse it in the next three to five years," Daniel said.

Besides, Hendardi said, numerous articles of the bill were prone to human rights abuses, citing a clause in the bill that an intention to commit a terrorist act could be punished.

The article that stipulated investigators could ignore bank secrecy laws and investigate bank account details infringed human rights, he said.

Several crucial points of the antiterrorism bill

* Terrorist act kills victims, destroys vital facilities * Combating terrorism must uphold the law and human rights * Terrorists face death penalties * Intention to commit terror carries 15 year jail term * Law on bank secrecy can be ignored in terrorism cases * The establishment of an ad hoc task unit to formulate antiterrorism policy and strategy

Source: Antiterrorism bill