BIN plans regional offices to improve intelligence work

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Intelligence Agency (BIN) plans to establish provincial representative offices across the country to increase information gathering and coordinate operations among other intelligence offices.

The plan, however, was received with caution from an intelligence analyst who warned that such institutions at the regional level would be prone to abuses by local administration leaders.

BIN chief Lt. Gen. (ret.) A.M. Hendropriyono said on Thursday that each respective governor would have access to those representative offices to help prevent possible attacks in their territories.

"We already have BIN agents across the country. These planned regional offices will simply coordinate intelligence reports from various intelligence offices," Hendropriyono said.

"Coordination is badly needed to strengthen intelligence analysis to prevent any form of security disturbances in the country."

Hendropriyono further explained that the offices would consist of local administration officials, police, Indonesian Military (TNI) officials and BIN agents, who would run the offices.

The retired general also said that BIN would coordinate intelligence information and provide more accurate analysis on security in the country for the President.

Asked when the regional offices would become operational, Hendropriyono simply said: "Soon."

BIN is tasked by Presidential Instruction No. 5/2002 to coordinate all intelligence activities in the country.

The instruction, issued following the Oct. 12 Bali bombing which killed over 190 people, mostly foreigners, aims at improving the intelligence agencies in coping with terror threats.

With the instruction, BIN was given the authority to coordinate all intelligence reports from the police, Indonesian military and attorney general's office.

"On the central government level, we have already made a gentleman's agreement among these institutions, and we need to establish offices to coordinate intelligence operations in the region," Hendropriyono said.

Intelligence analyst Djuanda, however, quickly warned that the expansion of intelligence operations and offices would only provoke public anxiety. Moreover, intelligent operations are often not accountable to the public.

Djuanda, former intelligence adviser to then president Abdurrahman Wahid, noted that intelligence agents were spreading across the country. However, establishing an institution for them would only open a door for abuses by local officials.

"Institutionalizing an intelligence community would provoke public anxiety as lot of people would feel that they are under surveillance," Djuanda told The Jakarta Post.

He called on more intensive public debate to ensure that the institutionalization of the intelligence agency would not harm the public, but rather protect the public.

He suggested that regional legislative councils should be involved in supervising their operations.

"Regional councils have to be more active to prevent possible abuses by the institution for the political interests of some officials or leaders," he added.

Djuanda said that establishment of intelligence offices in the region could secure political stability for the interest of the current administration as well as show the international community that the current government was serious in fighting terrorism.

"However, civil society groups, regional councils and other groups of concerned people must ensure that the offices do not turn into a political vehicle of the regime to retain power," he remarked.