Indonesia signs UN convention on terrorism
Indonesia signs UN convention on terrorism
By Fabiola Desy Unidjaja
NEW YORK (JP): Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda signed a United Nations convention on combating terrorism at the UN headquarters here on Monday (Tuesday Jakarta time).
With the signing of the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, Indonesia became the 45th country to accept it.
Hassan promised to share more intelligence information with other Southeast Asian nations.
The minister also signed protocols outlawing the use of child soldiers and protecting children against the sex trade.
He said Indonesia had long been considering signing the anti- terrorism convention and it was not solely a response to the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"It is not merely because of the New York and Washington incidents, but much more than that. We have even been thinking of taking action in respect of other possible international crimes," Hassan said.
Within the framework of the convention, Jakarta would try to increase intelligence coordination with fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other countries.
"This is an expression of the Indonesian government joining the international effort to prevent terrorism," Hassan said, adding that the signing of the convention was necessary to strengthen Indonesia's armory of legal instruments.
The immigration department and police would have access to training courses to monitor and detect money laundering, arms smuggling, people trafficking and the channeling of funds, he said.
"As soon as the convention is ratified by the House of Representatives (DPR), it will become part of Indonesian law. But, of course, it will need further executory regulations in domestic law," Hassan said.
Indonesia is now the second ASEAN country after the Philippines to have signed the convention.
The convention obliges the contracting states to closely monitor the collection or receipt of money by organizations in support of terrorist activities in another country.
It also requires the contracting states to freeze and prevent access to such funds by groups supporting terrorist organizations, and also to prosecute or extradite persons found guilty of involvement in such activities for terrorist organizations.
Indonesia has seen a spate of bombings in several cities in recent years. Blasts rocked a shopping mall in Central Jakarta on Sunday but caused no casualties.
Megawati is currently on a nine-day visit to the U.S. She is the first leader of a Muslim country to visit the country since the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington on Sept. 11.
She also held talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at UN headquarters on Monday.
Hassan said Annan expressed support for Indonesia's call to address the terrorism issue in the region.
"President Megawati underlined that terrorism has become one of the major issues in Indonesia and that she spoke about it with the ASEAN leaders during her recent visit to the nine member countries of ASEAN," Hassan said at a press briefing on Monday.
Hassan described the meeting as "very warm", and it was followed by a 10-minute closed door meeting.
Annan also expressed his support for Indonesia's territorial integrity, especially concerning the separatist problems in Aceh and Irian Jaya, Hassan said.
In addition, Megawati and Annan discussed the East Timor issue, with the later expressing support for Indonesia's stance of developing a realistic, forward-looking and reconciliatory relationship between Indonesia and the future state of East Timor.
To accommodate the return of international agencies to West Timor, Indonesia would work closely with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to settle the refugee issue, Hassan said.
"President Megawati also mentioned the assets problems in the former province of East Timor, along with other outstanding problems," he said.
Megawati is scheduled to have a meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Tuesday (Wednesday in Jakarta) before flying to Japan to meet Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.