Govt may revise terror law

Govt may revise terror law

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Amid criticism of poor coordination among security agencies and
their failure to prevent the latest bombing in Jakarta, the
government is considering revising the 2003 antiterrorism law to
give the security agencies more powers to thwart further
terrorist attacks.

This is one of three different options that the government is
pondering in order to curb terrorism, Coordinating Minister for
Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said here
on Wednesday.

"The second option is that the government will improve the
implementation of the law, while the third one is the adoption of
an internal security law," he told a news conference.

However, the first option -- the revision of Law No. 15/2003
on terrorism -- would be the preferred option for the government
as the Indonesian security authorities still lacked the powers
needed to tackle terrorist threats, Susilo added.

"Having enacted this law, we now believe that the powers of
the security authorities to prevent terrorist attacks are
inadequate. Our security agencies need more legal powers than
they have been given by the current law so as to allow them to
carry out early detection of terrorist threats," he said.

However, analysts and legislators here said that based on the
prevailing antiterrorism law, the security authorities and
intelligence agencies should have been able to prevent the Aug. 5
bombing of the Marriott Hotel if they had managed to institute
good coordination with one another.

What they needed was not new legislation or a review of the
existing law, but rather coordination, the critics insisted.

Susilo said that what concerned the government most was
Article 26 of the antiterrorism law, which states that the
security forces cannot arrest terror suspects immediately unless
they produce prima facie evidence. Nor are they allowed to detain
suspects for more than three days without the approval of the
district court.

This hampered the government's efforts to take preemptive
measures, and impeded the security forces in establishing an
early warning system, he added.

However, Susilo would not spell out the details of the
revisions he wanted to see, saying only that he would chair a
meeting on Thursday with other relevant ministers and senior
officials to discuss the planned revisions and the other two
available options.

"We are expecting that the revision of the law will bring
about effective measures to fight terrorism," he said.

Susilo said the government was unlikely to enact a Singapore-
or Malaysia-style internal security law to replace the current
antiterrorism law, arguing that it this would only stir up strong
opposition around the country.

"We will not adopt an internal security act (ISA) like
Singapore's or Malaysia's. Our situation is different from that
of Singapore or Malaysia. The ISA does not provide guarantees for
political freedom," he said.

With their ISAs, the Singaporean and Malaysian authorities can
arrest persons suspected of threatening stability at any time.
They are allowed to detain suspects for up to two years even in
the absence of prima facie evidence.

However, this leaves the way open for abuses of power, such as
the arresting of opposition leaders and prodemocracy activists.
Indonesia previously had an antisubversion law that was similar
to the ISAs. But, this law was repealed in 1999 after the fall of
authoritarian president Soeharto.

Susilo said that compared with the ISAs, the antiterrorism law
was very accommodative and guaranteed political freedom. It only
targeted terror suspects, not politicians, he added.

He promised that the revision of the law would not reintroduce
the antisubversion law by the backdoor, or lead to the adoption
of ISA-style provisions. If it were to do so, it could lead to
wrongful arrests, he said.

"The revisions will continue to guarantee political freedom.
Human rights activists will be free to oversee its
implementation."

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra
echoed Susilo's comments, saying the antiterrorism law was
basically adequate although it still needed some revisions.

"The problem merely concerns technical issues, namely, we
don't have the necessary technology and capabilities to conduct
intensive surveillance operations to detect and capture terror
suspects," he said.

Human rights and prodemocracy activists have strongly opposed
the introduction of an ISA-style law as proposed by Minister of
Defense Matori Abdul Djalil, saying it could kill democracy in
the country.

Former justice minister Muladi said the adoption of an ISA-
style law could stifle the democratization process and violate
human rights' principles. "Adopting an ISA would mean reviving
the notorious antisubversion law. That is not democratic," he
said.