BIN's new role to bosst RI's intelligence
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The issuance of a new presidential instruction that tasked the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to coordinate intelligence operations in the country would strengthen the country's intelligence capability in the early detection of security threats, according to analysts.
Reviving the coordinating role of BIN, analysts said on Wednesday, would support the prevention measures needed in anticipating threats to Indonesia's security.
"The issuance of the presidential instruction shows that the government has corrected itself as they need to empower the intelligence body," intelligence observer Djuanda told The Jakarta Post.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued two presidential instructions on Tuesday night before departing to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Mexico.
Instruction No. 5/2002, gives the BIN chief authority to coordinate the planning and conducting of all intelligence operations in the country.
Presidential Instruction No. 4/2002, appoints the coordinating minister for political and security affairs to head all related departments in the war against terrorism, especially in the probe of the Bali bombing case.
Djuanda, former intelligence advisor to president Abdurrahman Wahid, expressed the hope that with the new authority, BIN chief Let. Gen. (ret.) A.M. Hendropriyono would not abuse his power.
"We hope that BIN uses its power effectively and intensifies cooperation with other intelligence agencies," Djuanda said.
He said intensifying communication among intelligence agencies in the country would be necessary to prevent competition in conducting intelligence operations.
Indonesia has four intelligence units, including BIN. The other three are the Military Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS), the police intelligence unit and the intelligence unit at the Attorney General's Office.
The country used to have the State Intelligence Coordinating Agency (BAKIN), which coordinated intelligence operations in the country. BAKIN was disbanded by Abdurrahman, who then formed BIN. The new presidential instruction, nevertheless, virtually restores BAKIN's function.
Deputy Cabinet Secretary Erman Radjagukguk told the Post that the decision to issue the two instructions was reached during the Cabinet meeting on the government regulations in lieu of law on terrorism last Friday.
"The Indonesian Military chief and National Police chief were both consulted in drafting the instruction and neither objected to the granting of more authority to BIN," Erman said.
Separately, analyst Kusnanto Anggoro cautiously welcomed the decision underlining that it should be followed by an improvement in the capability of the government to control intelligence agents so that they do not abuse their power.
"There should be a distinction between detecting threats to security and threats to democracy and we should supervise the use of the new authority," Kusnanto said.
He also questioned the ability of BIN chief Hendropriyono in intensifying communication among intelligence units in the country as "each intelligence agency has a rigid chain of command."
Djuanda said that such weaknesses could be overcome if Hendropriyono took the initiative to conduct regular meetings of the agencies.
"It is particularly important to coordinate between the military and police intelligence agencies because the two have a broad network across the country and a strong base among the people," he said.
He said that it would be impossible to compare the power of the two agencies as their work involved two different fields.
"The police mostly concentrate on early warning, while the military on defense matters," Djuanda said.