BIN's new role to bosst RI's intelligence

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.