Hasyim urges Mega to issue decree on antiterrorism

Hasyim urges Mega to issue decree on antiterrorism

Tiarma Siboro and Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Hasyim Muzadi has called on President
Megawati Soekarnoputri to issue a decree ordering the arrest of
terrorists here should intelligence reports alleging that
Indonesia is a hotbed for international terrorists ring true.

"Skepticism is rife among the public who accuse us of being
reluctant to deal with the terrorist issue and of failure to take
effective measures due to the lack of a legal basis."

"The government's efforts to combat terrorism also face
obstacles because all evidence was based on intelligence reports,
which could not be used in the due process of law. If the
President were determined to take tough action (against
terrorists), then she could issue a decree," Hasyim told
reporters at NU headquarters in Central Jakarta on Friday after
holding a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce.

The meeting was held following a recent objection from Hasyim
against the U.S. antiterror policy regarding Indonesia, which he
considered was aimed at creating the public impression, via the
mass media, that Indonesia was a hotbed for terrorist activities.

Hasyim said that while he gave his commitment to the fight
against terrorism, he was against a government plan to
to use either the 1959 State of Emergency Law or a 1999 law on
state security to crack down on terrorism.

Rights activists have condemned the plan, saying that it
failed to respect the principle of the presumption of innocence.

Activist Hendardi said that any attempt to crackdown on
terrorism by issuing repressive regulations, be it in the form of
legislation or a presidential decree, would be a setback for the
country, which was moving toward democratization.

"In a democratic country, which is what this country aspires
to be, the legal framework should provide plenty of leeway for
public rights," he said on Friday.

He added that debate on the presence of terrorism in Indonesia
had been blown out of proportion and provoked by some parties
with vested interests, including the military.

"The terrorism allegations came from the U.S., but here, the
issue had been used by the military for its own benefit, to pave
the way for a better relationship with the U.S."

Issuing the decree, he went on, would create a negative
impression with the public, because it showed that the government
seemed able to do almost anything in the name of security.

"Besides, issuing a decree for one terrorist would be like
bombing a mosquito with dynamite," he said, adding that the
decree might hit the target but there would be no guarantee that
it would not hurt other, innocent people.

Meanwhile, another legal expert, Topo Santoso, questioned the
legal basis of the decree if the government were to proceed with
its plan to issue one.

"There is no legal basis for issuing such a decree (to arrest
terrorists). If we want to create a legal basis for the fight
against terrorism, it has to be in the form of law," Topo, a law
professor at the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post.

"The fact is that we have to crack down on terrorists -- I
have no problem with that -- but it must be based on law, which,
of course, should provide little opportunity for rights abuses."

Hasyim also complained about the presence of foreign citizens
in several restive regions, saying, "the situation could trigger
radicalism ... that foreign countries have interfered in
Indonesia's domestic problems."

"Our stand is clear on terrorism; we (NU) are asking the U.S.
to end the polemic by submitting concrete data that will enable
our security officers to proceed with legal action. We also warn
the U.S. to be careful with its policy because any wrongdoing
could tarnish the image of Islam, as well as Indonesia and the
U.S itself," Hasyim said.

Hasyim's remarks were harsher than ulemas' lukewarm response
to the government's move to involve them in the U.S.-led war on
terrorism.

Indonesia has again drawn international attention after a CIA
document revealed that several members of the international
terrorist group al-Qaeda were operating here and had attempted to
assassinate Megawati.

The document was published by Time magazine and was partly
based on the testimony of Omar al-Faruq, a Kuwaiti citizen who
claimed to be an al-Qaeda's medium-level operative. Al-Faruq was
arrested and deported from Indonesia to the U.S. authorities in
June through intelligence operations.

The document also reported that al-Faruq had made contact with
Surakarta-based Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, chairman of the
Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI). Ba'asyir has reportedly
become a target of intelligence operations.

Earlier, Hasyim said, before hundreds of NU executives from
the East Java chapter, that certain parties in this country were
trying to oust President Megawati Soekarnoputri. He refused to
elaborate.

"The scenario to depose Megawati will cause many people to
suffer. Several foreign countries are also interfering through
various maneuvers, threatening our integrity," Hasyim said, as
quoted by Antara.