Megawati orders ministers to improve antiterrorism bill

Megawati orders ministers to improve antiterrorism bill

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri instructed her ministers on
Thursday to improve the draft of a bill on antiterrorism before
submitting it to the House of Representatives (DPR) for
deliberation.

Speaking to journalists after attending a Cabinet meeting here
on Thursday, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the President wanted the
bill to uphold the government's stance on fighting terrorism.

"The President wants the bill to uphold the basic principles
on how Indonesia views terrorism and to impose measures to deal
with the problem," he said.

"The President has ordered (the related ministers) to discuss
the bill immediately and submit it to the House as soon as
possible," Susilo said.

The minister did not pinpoint what part of the bill had to be
improved but analysts have criticized the bill for its vague
definition of terrorism and the exclusion of politically
motivated terrorist acts.

The bill, which was drafted by Minister of Justice and Human
Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra, has been submitted to Susilo and
discussed at Cabinet meetings. The House has also given the green
light for the government to submit the bill for deliberations.

Terrorism, according to the government, is an indiscriminate
act of violence committed against the public. The government is
to ensure that the bill does not categorize certain races,
religions or ethnicities as terrorist groups.

The police will be the leading agency in dealing with domestic
terrorism, while the United Nations (UN) and other multilateral
cooperation should fight international terrorist groups.

Susilo said the President demanded that those stances need to
be clearly reflected in the bill, and it should be submitted to
the House as soon as possible.

In a clear attempt to respond to international pressure on
Jakarta's measures to curb terrorism in the country, the
government has sped up the bill's preparation.

Susilo said earlier that the government needed legal grounds
to launch a major crackdown on alleged terrorist groups operating
in the country.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has been
labeled a safe haven for terrorists as it is considered to have
failed in dealing with domestic Muslim extremist groups.

The government discussed the 46 articles in the bill with the
House earlier this week and received a positive response from the
legislators.

Analysts have said they noticed various flaws in the bill,
including vague measures for the questioning of suspected
terrorists and the bill's unclear definition of terrorism.

Some have expressed fear that the ambiguous points would
create loopholes for security officers to go beyond their
authority in processing terrorism cases or be used by the
government to silence political opposition, especially from
Muslim groups.

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Soetarto said
that the bill would not be another weapon for the government to
use.

"It was drafted by Yusril, who also heads a Muslim-based
party, so it would not violate the rights of any Muslim groups,"
he said.