Govt to issue decree on terrorism amid pressure

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.