Govt set to issue antiterrorism regulation today
Govt set to issue antiterrorism regulation today
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is set to issue the first antiterrorist regulation
on Friday since the fall of the Soeharto authoritarian regime in
1998 in response to the Bali bombing that has claimed almost 200
lives.
After winning political backing from the House of
Representatives on Thursday, the government has been given the
authority to do whatever it takes in investigating and preventing
acts of terrorism.
The government regulation in lieu of a law provides for the
death penalty for those convicted of committing or threatening to
commit acts of terrorism resulting in mass destruction and
killing.
The regulation allows the authorities to detain people for
three days in the absence of strong legal evidence that the
person may have committed terrorist acts.
It also gives the government the right to form antiterror
teams consisting of various departments, including the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and Police, in order to conduct wide-ranging
intelligence operations.
The results of intelligence operations could be used as prima
facie legal evidence after being approved by a court of law with
the approval process taking no longer than three days.
Labeling the current situation an emergency, House Speaker
Akbar Tandjung said that the House fully supported the government
in providing a legal basis for the handling of acts of terrorism.
"Based on article 22 of the 1945 Constitution, the president
has the authority to issue government regulations in lieu of laws
during a state of emergency," Akbar said.
He was speaking during a joint press conference with President
Megawati Soekarnoputri after a consultative meeting between the
government and the House regarding the regulation.
"We all know that passing a terrorism bill will take months,
whereas we immediately need a legal basis for fighting
terrorism," Megawati said during the press briefing.
Such political backing will provide greater leeway for the
government to take action against groups with possible links to
terrorists.
The country scrapped most draconian laws, including the
subversion and state emergency laws, after the fall of former
president Soeharto in 1998.
In the current global war on terrorism, this has been singled
out as the weak point of the government in dealing with
terrorists, as it is impossible to arrest people based merely on
allegations.
However, the recent Bali bombing that claimed more than 180
lives has given the government the reason it needs for the
revival of such regulations.
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra
defended the new regulation, saying that it would not be another
subversion law and that human rights would remain the basic
reference in drafting the regulation.
He underlined that the regulation could not be used to arrest
somebody who had expressed different views or supported a
different ideology.
Yusril also said that the government was considering making
the regulation retroactive so that it could be used for the
investigation into the Bali bombing case.
When asked whether the House was handing a blank cheque to the
government in the fight against terrorism, as has been feared by
human rights activists, Akbar said: "Even if the regulation has
many flaws, it can be repealed within two or three months when we
pass the antiterrorism law."
Yusril said the final discussions on the regulation would be
conducted on Friday, and it would be issued on the same day.