ISA not needed to fight terrorism, activists say

ISA not needed to fight terrorism, activists say

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Activists slammed on Sunday a proposal from Minister of Defense
Matori Abdul Djalil that Indonesia needed a draconian Singapore-
style International Security Act (ISA) to combat terrorism,
saying such a proposal was a move by the government to deflect
criticism if its inability to counter increasing numbers of
terror attacks.

Human rights activist Hendardi said that what was needed in
the fight against terrorism was better intelligence work in
detecting potential threats, rather than the enactment of a new
regulation.

"We already have the Criminal Code Law which is more than
enough to arrest people suspected of possessing explosives and
firearms," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He feared that the enactment of an ISA that granted greater
powers to the security authorities would give rise to the risk of
human rights abuses in the enforcement process.

Hendardi was commenting in response to a proposal by Minister
of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil that Indonesia should pass an
Internal Security Act (ISA) to enable the authorities to launch
preemptive measures against terrorist acts.

The minister cited Singapore and Malaysia as countries that
had been successful in curbing terror by employing their ISAs.
"An ISA is of great importance for the country as it will provide
greater powers for the authorities to take preventative
measures," Matori said over the weekend.

After the blast in the JW Marriot Hotel that claimed 11 lives
and wounded 149 others, the government has been heightening
security measures around the country, especially in public
spaces. It has conducted ID card checks and also searched homes
for explosives.

In the wake of Bali blasts in October 2002, which claimed the
lives of 202 people, the government enacted an antiterrorism law.

Saying that the failure to stop a recent string of blasts in
the country should be blamed on weak intelligence work, Hendardi
demanded that the government dismiss the chairman of the State
Intelligence Agency (BIN), Hendropriyono, and the Indonesian
Chief Police Gen. Da'i Bachtiar. "Apologies are not enough. They
should resign," he said.

Indonesian Human Rights Watch executive director Munir voiced
a similar view. He said the proposal was an attempt by the
government to cover up its lack of success in the campaign
against terrorism.

He said that rather than taking concrete actions to curb
terrorism, the government was instead trying to increase its
power to control the public.

"Greater power on the part of the government can easily lead
to the abuse of it," he said, adding that the enactment of an ISA
could also be used to curb criticism of the government's policy.

He told the Post that the government should learn from the
Philippine government, which shunned the use of security
regulations produced during the authoritarian regime of president
Marcos, despite escalating terrorist attacks.

He said that what the government should do in the first place
was to improve the work of the state intelligence agencies.

"I have heard that the director of BIN had been forewarned
about the Marriot blast, but I do not see that any action was
taken to prevent that calamity from happening."