Concerted efforts needed to fight terrorism: Experts

Muninggar Sri Saraswati The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Governments across the world must cooperate to launch a new global policy targeting a reduction in the root causes of terrorism as no single country will be able to win the war against the crime alone.

Rainer Arnold, a member of the German Parliament, said on Monday that the new concept of globalization -- which does not only mean new markets or better-value products but also dangers, terrorism and injustice -- demanded joint responses from all countries in the world.

Governments, he said, needed to establish a consistent security policy involving dialogue, disarmament, arms control, non-proliferation and the resolution of regional conflicts.

However, it would not be enough to merely work on global disarmament and settle regional conflicts, he said during the opening of the Second German/Asian Dialogue on Security Policy in Jakarta.

"Above all, we must develop a comprehensive political concept to combat the social and economic conflicts in crisis regions. Poverty and social instability as well as the lack of good governance are the breeding-grounds in which fundamentalism, hatred and terror flourish," Arnold said.

Maj. Gen. Sudrajat, the director general for defense strategy at the Ministry of Defense, concurred, saying that a change in security perspectives was essential to cope with terrorism.

"We can no longer use coercion to fight against terrorism and extremism. It must be faced with ideology. We must be able to promote moderation," he said.

Sudrajat believed that governments could promote moderation through correct education. He said that currently, some sensitive issues, such as those concerning the Middle East, could easily incite radicalism in Indonesia despite the fact that most Indonesian Muslims were moderate.

"Unfortunately, the moderate figures apparently don't have the guts to stand up against the small number with extremist views. I don't know why this is," Sudrajat said, adding that regional governments must also work together to overcome the problem.

He suggested that governments consider various aspects in formulating new security policies given the reality that most countries, particularly in Asia, had diverse cultures, religions and traditions.

"There must be flexibility and sensitivity in formulating new policies based on local traditions," Sudrajat said.

He pointed to recent criticism of the police for arresting a number of Muslim activists for possible links with terrorism.

"We can understand the backlash as in the past our intelligence services could arrest people without strong evidence. Therefore, we must be open to criticism," Sudrajat said.

Arnold also raised concerns over possible human rights violations in the global fight against terrorism.

"There must not be an anti-terrorism "bonus". The international community must take a firm stance against the resent alarming tendency to justify human rights violations as part of the fight against terrorism," he said.