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.