Govt to issue decree on terrorism amid pressure

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is expected to issue an emergency decree on terrorism amid mounting international pressure for firm action to be taken against terrorism following the recent deadly bombing in Bali.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the government had decided to issue a decree due to "the recent emergency situation in the country" despite the ongoing process of the establishment of a law on terrorism.

"We know that every decision has its consequences, but we have decided to do this," he announced after a meeting in his office on Wednesday with an Australian mission led by foreign minister Alexander Downer.

Yusril confirmed that the content of the decree was based on the draft of the antiterrorism law, which has yet to be sent to the House of Representatives for deliberation.

The government started drafting the bill last year, and claimed it was in line with Resolution No. 1373 of the United Nation's Security Council on terrorism.

However, many have raised objections to the draft of the law, fearing possible abuse of power similar to the abuse of the antisubversion law used by the New Order regime to fight its political opponents.

Yusril admitted that the emergency decree had several flaws, but quickly said his office would rectify that.

"The government will not allow abuse of power (from the decree). We also don't want to be arrested (for political reasons) under the decree in the future," he said.

The government has supposedly issued the emergency decree to accelerate the establishment of a legal instrument that enables law enforcers -- who have repeatedly complained about the lack of legal basis to fight terrorism -- to conduct preemptive actions.

According to the fourth amendment of the 1945 Constitution, the decree can be issued without House approval.

The House can only approve or annul the decree in the following session. It has no authority to debate the content of the decree.

Indeed, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung has announced House approval for the decree.

"Basically, we support the government in taking immediate action to solve the problem (terrorism)," he said, saying that the House was expected to meet the government on Thursday to discuss the matter.

However, Ibrahim Ambong, the head of Commission I on security and political affairs, opposed the emergency decree, saying that the House -- which would end its recess within two weeks -- could finish the deliberation of the antiterrorism bill in a month.

Separately, Rudy Satrio of the University of Indonesia suggested that the government ratify several international conventions on terrorism instead of issuing an emergency decree.

To date, Indonesia has only ratified four of the 12 international conventions on terrorism. All of the four conventions, which focus on aviation, were ratified before 1988. The country has not ratified any recent conventions on terrorism, such as those on terrorist bombings or plastic bomb materials.

Rudy urged the government not to make hasty decisions despite mounting international pressure. The criminal law lecturer feared that the emergency decree could create further problems for the government should it be introduced into the country's legal system, comparing it to the Human Rights Law.

"We all know the result. The state lost several cases against defendants related to East Timor rights abuse in the ad hoc tribunal because of, among other things, the weaknesses in the human rights law, which was made hastily," he said.