Rights activists concerned over terrorism agency

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Military chief's proposal to establish a new antiterrorist agency has sparked fear among human rights activists of a resurrection of the New Order regime's dreaded internal security agency (Kopkamtib).

The activists warn that if the plan materializes, the agency would allow widespread human rights abuses to be carried out by the state in the name of security.

"I'm afraid that the agency will become a new version of Kopkamtib, which was dreaded on account of its immense extrajudicial powers," said Munir, founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

Kopkamtib, whose official name was the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order, was established in 1965. It was renamed the Coordinating Agency for Supporting the Development of National Stability (Bakorstanas) in 1988. The much criticized agency was eventually disbanded in 2000.

The antiterrorist agency was proposed on Wednesday by Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Adm. Widodo AS at a hearing with the House of Representatives. He argued that the agency's establishment was urgent because terrorism was already here to stay while the existing intelligence agencies were not capable of handling the problem.

Critics have countered by arguing it would be more feasible to revitalize the existing agencies as establishing a new organization would not only take time but also require substantial funds.

Hermawan Sulistyo, a scholar from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), for example, suggested that the government revamp Wanhankamnas (National Security and Defense Council) and convert it into a kind of national security council of the kind that already existed in a number of countries in the region.

"The council could be redesigned to accommodate the defense and security functions so as to combat terrorism," Hermawan told The Jakarta Post.

The council was established in 1952 but was later hijacked by president Soeharto to strengthen his grip on power.

Munir was of the opinion that the government would be better advised to strengthen institutions like the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

"The proposed agency could be misused by the government to appropriate extrajudicial powers to itself," he said.

Hendardi, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), expressed similar fears about the new antiterrorist agency.

He said such an agency could easily be abused by the military to suppress civil rights and arrest anybody they considered a "terrorist".

"We should not give the possibility to the military of controlling civilians," he told the Post, adding that the military would define terrorism based on its own perceptions.

The agency, he argued, would not be credible because the military itself was often accused of committing terrorist acts. It could be that the military wanted to create the agency so as to create the public perception that the military itself never resorted to terrorist tactics so as to achieve its ends.

So far, the establishment of the new antiterrorist agency has won the support of retired military and police officers, including those in the House of Representatives.

A cautious response came from Koesparmono Irsan, a member the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and a former national police chief, who said that if the agency were to be formed, its powers should be strictly circumscribed by the laws.

"Excessive powers could easily be misused. And anyway, we have dissolved Bakorstanas, so why should we set up a similar agency" he asked.

Koesparmono added that an antiterrorist agency was acceptable as long as it only had the function of coordinating antiterrorist operations, which should be conducted by the police with some military assistance.

Voicing strong support was the former chief of State Intelligence Coordinating Board (Bakin) Lt. Gen. (ret.) Zaini Azhar Maulani.

He said the mooted agency was precisely what the country needed now that terrorism was becoming a national, and not only an international, threat.

"Terrorism as a movement has already developed into such a sophisticated operation. It will never be the same again as in the 1960s and 1970s. Terrorism cannot be defeated using the old methods," Maulani told reporters. (02/09)