Plenty left to do in fight against terrorism

Plenty left to do in fight against terrorism

Bantarto Bandoro, Editor, The Indonesian Quarterly'
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Jakarta, bandoro@csis.or.id

Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, a Muslim militant dubbed the "smiling
assassin", was sentenced to death on Thursday for his part in
last year's deadly night club bombing on Bali.

The verdict came just two days after a bomb explosion at the
JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, and coincides with concerns that a
shadowy Southeast Asia network linked to al-Qaeda might be
plotting further attacks.

The verdict also came at the same time a bomb exploded in
Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Thursday. Experts in terrorism said
that another series of bombings would likely occur following
Amrozi's verdict.

The government, accused of being too soft on terrorists before
the Bali bombings, has been eager to demonstrate to the world
that it is committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice. The
public, however, is not satisfied enough with the way the
government is tackling the problem of terrorists, in spite of the
enactment of the country's antiterrorist law, given that
terrorist attacks have recurred, apparently undetected.

Amrozi's death sentence, to some extent, has provided some
sense of comfort to those who lost their loved ones. But the
government should not be complacent about this. The Marriott
bombing and Amrozi's statement made after the verdict was
delivered, that there will be "a million more Amrozis", sent a
clear message that more bomb attacks could be expected.

Terrorism, in whatever form, will continue to be a grave
threat to national stability and security. The government clearly
has much left to do. It must initiate more decisive national
measures to contain the threat of terrorism.

If the Amrozi verdict is followed by similar convictions for
the other defendants, our notoriously inefficient judicial system
could get a much needed boost in its efforts to control those who
appear to be Islamic radicals. But the problem of confronting the
terrorism threat is not only about strengthening our judicial
system; it is also about law enforcement.

It is, after all, about national security and stability.

Combating terrorism should be placed within the framework of
national security efforts, meaning that the process of battening
down national security must be increasingly correlated with
threat of domestic terrorism. If a series of terrorist acts were
to occur following Amrozi's verdict, perhaps it is time for the
government to use national security concerns to justify the
introduction of a more decisive and, if necessary, repressive,
antiterrorist measures.

Such steps would, however, have to be built on the belief that
domestic terrorist acts are treated as criminal acts that pose a
grave threat to national security regardless of their
motivations. It is thus important that the coming verdicts on the
other alleged bombers also be based on considerations of national
security.

Many among the public would hope that the panel of judges for
the other Bali bombing trials would declare the same verdict as
that handed down to Amrozi. It is hoped that the final court
decisions would have some practical effects on the way the
government is pursuing its antiterrorism policy. The death
penalty for other defendants, should they deserve it, would
certainly heighten the public's demand for a more active role by
law enforcers in combating terrorism.

Thus, a concerted and systematic effort is indeed imperative
if the government is to gain the sympathy and moral support of
the public in its fight against terrorists.

The public expects authorities to arrest the perpetrators of
the Marriott bombing immediately. If they are captured, National
Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar should not show the same
cordiality to them as he did to Amrozi. What most people remember
about Amrozi was his behavior at a strange public interrogation
conducted by the police chief a month after the blast, at which
they met in an atmosphere of friendliness.

This coverage sparked revulsion from foreign countries --
particularly Australia -- which suffered the greatest number of
victims in the Bali attack. Investigators should obviously be
sensitive to public perception.

The government's new approaches toward combating terrorists,
if any, must be able to convince the public that it does have
adequate counterterrorism measures in place -- although even this
would not be a reason for complacency.

Attacks, when they occur, are seen as the failure of a system,
a lack of vigilance that can be fixed only by the introduction of
new, decisive and accurate national measures. Terrorism must be
prevented from placing the government on the defensive.

Learning from past experiences, the decision to engage actors
other than government elements in particularly "offensive"
activities must now be considered. Terrorists must not be feared,
but confronted at all costs.