ASEAN must compromise to fight terrorism

ASEAN must compromise to fight terrorism

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN)
need solid legal rulings to support antiterror cooperation if
they wish to conduct an effective crackdown on transnational
terrorists, observers said.

They suggested that ASEAN countries should agree on at least
extradition of terror suspects, trials conducted near the site of
the crime, a uniform trial system throughout ASEAN and private
expertise outsourcing to combat terrorism.

Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS), Hermawan Sulistyo of the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI) and Abdul Khaliq Ahmad of the National Awakening
Party (PKB) are among those who proposed such cooperation.

They were commenting on the recent ASEAN police meeting where
it was pledged on Wednesday that they would boost ties by setting
up a task force and sharing resources after an attack.

"Terrorism is a transnational crime, so every country must
combat the crime beyond their regular practices. They must take
extraordinary measures," Kusnanto told the Jakarta Post on
Thursday.

He said an extradition agreement among the ASEAN countries was
recommended for fighting transnational crimes and uprooting
terrorist networks operating in the region.

"Such an extradition is necessary as terrorist suspects may
not be arrested or charged under a terrorism act in countries
other than that of the actual crime," Kusnanto said.

He also said extradition of suspects to the country where they
committed acts of terror was important to collect solid evidence
and build a comprehensive reconstruction of the crime.

However, such extraditions could only be realized with
cooperation among ministries of justices, not by the police,
Kusnanto said.

Hermawan agreed with Kusnanto.

He said the recent cooperation among ASEAN police lacked both
reform in the current criminal justice system in ASEAN member
countries and involvement of public experts.

Improvement in the criminal justice system must include an
obligatory extradition of terrorist suspects and harmony of trial
systems adopted in ASEAN member countries, according Hermawan,
who is helping the National Police in investigating the Bali
bombing.

The involvement of experts, such as in telecommunications and
the mass media, in combating terrorists could greatly assist the
police in unraveling the terrorist networks, Hermawan said.

"The police can't crack down on terrorists alone," he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad said despite the imperfect cooperation, the
recent accord among ASEAN police should be supported.

"By supporting them, we hope they can continuously develop the
cooperation on such a level that we expect, including improvement
in the justice system," he said.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said at the ASEAN
police gathering that when terrorists attack one member country,
assistance from other ASEAN countries should be at its disposal
in the form of identifying, pursuing and apprehending suspects,
examining witnesses, searching for and seizing evidence,
evacuating and treating victims and providing forensic expertise.