Controlling our intelligence

With the new antiterrorism regulations one could be arrested, interrogated and brought to court based on intelligence reports, not legal evidence.

It is obvious that the regulations give more power for the intelligence to act, and this could lead to abuse. The old saying says power tends to corrupt.

The Bali carnage was an evidence of the weakness of our intelligence bodies. But, the question is why don't we want to know what made our intelligence bodies that impotent.

Should we have an option, we prefer not to produce such regulations, despite the fact that many other countries have been under fire for issuing similar regulations after the Sept. 11 attack in the U.S.

A report done by Human Rights Watch early this year said that antiterrorism laws had been abused in certain authoritarian countries to oppress opposition movements.

Indonesia had an antisubversion law in the past and the law had also been inappropriately used to crash those considered to go against the government policies.

The new antiterrorism regulations must be followed by reforms within our intelligence bodies. The regulations must not encourage the establishment of a "new center of power", which could be used by certain parties for political and business purposes. The National Intelligence Body (BIN) must not become a monolithic organization. The organization must work with personnel from various institutions to enable them to share information.

The intelligence body must also be accountable.

-- Koran Tempo, Jakarta