Concerted efforts needed to fight terrorism: Experts

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.