Public participation crucial for antiterrorism movement

Public participation crucial for antiterrorism movement

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri should unite the whole nation in
the war against terrorism after the bomb attack in Bali so that
the government regulations in lieu of antiterrorism law issued
recently can work effectively, analysts have said.

Sociologists Ignas Kleden and Iwan Gardono said that the
government regulations would lack power to clamp down on
terrorism here unless the public at large was involved in an
antiterrorism campaign through improved alertness.

Public participation, however, should be restricted to
providing information to the security authorities instead of
building mass organizations or groups to counter terrorism, they
said.

"Any mass groups set up to counter terrorism may create
another form of terror in society," Ignas said here on Wednesday.

Ignas, director of the Go East Institute research center,
suggested that people and security institutions boost cooperation
through information sharing.

It is hoped that better coordination between security
authorities and people who receive bomb threats or find something
suspicious will prevent the spread of rumors, which can terrorize
the general public, Ignas added.

Iwan Gardono of the University of Indonesia (UI) emphasized
that with a limited number of intelligence officers, the
authorities would be too weak to cope with the increasing threat
of terrorism.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made an official statement after the
Bali blast that there was a possibility of a second terror
attack.

However, he fell short of demanding that people unite and be
more alert.

Ignas and Iwan suggested that the public could take their own
initiative to boost alertness and share information on anything
suspicious with the security forces.

It has been 12 days since the bomb blasts rocked Kuta, Bali,
but President Megawati has not yet addressed the nation on the
need to unite and boost alertness to combat terrorism.

Neither has the President established strong coordination
between the relevant authorities to carry out a better
investigation into the fatal bombing.

Better coordination and public alertness would help the
government achieve a more effective response to terrorist
threats, the two experts said.

The government has issued government regulations in lieu of
antiterrorism law, but no thorough explanation has been given by
the President since then on what the country would achieve or
how, using the new regulations.

According to Ignas, the public could improve alertness through
siskamling, the Indonesian acronym for neighborhood night
patrols.

"Siskamling will help in the effort to counter terrorism. But
it won't be easy," he said.

Iwan, meanwhile, added that residents in neighborhood (RT) and
community units (RW) should help each other to improve security
in their areas.

He suggested that people report to security officials if they
were suspicious about anyone. "The patrols could be drawn from
residents at RT and RW levels, to officers at district level,"
Iwan added.

The government has tended to ignore the role of the people:
Therefore society itself should seize the initiative by improving
alertness in neighborhoods, he added.