RI's pledge to fight terrorism assured

RI's pledge to fight terrorism assured

Hasan Wirajuda, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta

We gather here tonight right after the bitter commemoration of
the hideous terrorist attack on the United States last year. A
tragedy that should not have happened in a civilized world and
therefore, we must harness our efforts earnestly in order to
prevent it from recurring anywhere in the world.

As a global coalition, let us round up the terrorists and
bring them to justice. Let us destroy their cells and their
networks and deny them their ill-gotten financial and other
resources. Let us see to it that there are no safe havens
anywhere for any of them.

But at the end of the day we still must ferret out the root
causes of terrorism and eradicate these totally. And let us not
be surprised if these causes turn out to be the ancient and
familiar adversaries of human civilization.

These include poverty and all its attendants: Ignorance,
prejudice, hunger and disease, and a sense of helplessness -- all
of which breed a common sense of injustice, a sense of
oppression, hatred and desperation, alienation from society as
well as fanaticism. There seems to be something in these
realities of the human condition that trigger an irrational spark
in the human mind and makes a person take to a life of crime by
practicing terrorism.

These factors certainly have something to do with a steadily
spreading culture of violence all over the world, as nations,
groups and individuals resort to violence for the solution of
their problems.

They do have relevance to the thirst for democracy and for the
liberation of the human potential that it promises, and these are
precisely the global challenges that are being addressed by the
Millennium Declaration, the Johannesburg Agenda, the United
Nations Agenda for Development and its prequel, the Agenda for
Peace. They are the very problems to which the work of the United
Nations would be the solution, the challenges and concerns that
make up the broad human agenda.

I do believe, however, that in the long run our most effective
measures against international terrorism are those in the realm
of social and economic development. Through a program of social
safety nets we aim to protect the vulnerable segments of our
society from the effects of the downside of globalization.

I am here in Washington DC to nurture long-standing relations
between Indonesia and the United States. The message is simple:
Indonesia's democracy and reforms are on track and progressing
steadily. And I passionately believe, as do millions of
Indonesians, that the best of Indonesia is yet to come.

The economy is but one example: Our efforts at stabilizing the
economy have been well rewarded with a steady strengthening of
the rupiah and a lowering of interest rates. We have a stable
balance of payments and our foreign exchange reserves are
sufficient to meet payments of imports and maturing debts. We are
confident that we can make an orderly exit from International
Monetary Fund tutelage next year and thereby improve our
sovereign rating.

We will need this economic recovery to bolster our democratic
transition and wide-ranging reforms.

In our endeavors to reform our national political system, we
took a large and bold step recently when our People's
Consultative Assembly endorsed several amendments to our
Constitution: The adoption of a system of direct popular election
of the President and Vice President; the adoption of a bicameral
system of legislature; and the abolition by 2004 of the 38
appointed seats reserved for the military in the legislature.

With the military out of the legislature and out of politics,
it can concentrate on serving as a professional force that is the
main component of the country's national defense. The police,
already effectively separated from the military, will keep
enhancing its role as the guardian of the peace and public order
as well as enforcer of the law.

Another significant development was the abortive attempt by
certain groups to call for the adoption of the sharia or Islamic
law for Indonesian Muslims. I think this decision is of greater
importance than it appears and deserves a more thorough
appraisal.

Indeed, the recent interest in Indonesia's political Islam
obscures the fact that Islamic radicalism has been part of
modern-day Indonesia since the early days of our independence.
Yet, decade after decade, radical Islam has never succeeded in
elbowing the millions of moderate, tolerant and devout muslims
who form the mainstream of Islam in Indonesia.

Keep in mind that even the advocates of sharia were not using
force or violence to achieve their political ends, and, like the
democratic era of 1945, they were allowed to carry their advocacy
into the legislature. This is clear proof that in Indonesia even
the most fervent Muslims can shun terrorism.

We are fully aware that in some international circles,
Indonesia has been faulted as less than fully enthusiastic in
playing a role in the global fight against terror on the basis of
a mistaken perception that it is lenient with radical Muslim
groups. Yes, there are groups of Indonesian Muslims who would be
happy to see Indonesia become a theocracy and due to our
determination to uphold democracy, these groups have been allowed
to march in the streets, clamoring for the enshrinement of the
sharia in our legal system.

As usual, the march of a small but vocal group will get a
great deal of media coverage, while the commendable works of the
silent majority are taken for granted and go unnoticed. Compared
to their number in the thousands to the 32 million members of the
Nahdlatul Ulama and the 29 million members of the Muhammadiyah,
both of which are organizations of moderate Muslims, the radicals
constitute a small minority, if not a miniscule.

There have been suggestions that the government should arrest
personalities associated with these small vociferous groups, but
in our democracy arrests can only be made on the basis of
specific evidence. Indonesians do not want to return to the past
where the regime security apparatus can detain people at will.

Indeed, President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin
Powell have acknowledged Indonesia's quiet support in the
campaign against international terrorism as having helped the
region and the world a safer place. From them we have received
strong encouragement to continue confronting the forces of terror
in our own way. And the way we have chosen is the way of
democracy and the rule of law.

In the context of today's Indonesia, it is of critical
importance that we strike a balance between democracy, respect
for human rights and our security needs. This balance is
relevant not just in the efforts to combat international
terrorism but also in dealing with security challenges emanating
from internal armed opposition groups, such as the separatist
movements in the provinces of Aceh and Papua, and the highly
disruptive communal strife in the provinces of Maluku and North
Maluku.

On the problem of Aceh, the government is ready and willing to
resume negotiations with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) provided it
is clear that we are not negotiating its separation from
Indonesia and that the GAM has ceased resorting to terrorist
tactics. We reserve our sovereign rights to continue to uphold
the law solely with the purpose of restoring security and public
order in the province and normalize its socio-cultural and
economic life.

The above is abridged from the Minister's address to a
gathering held by the United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO) on
Sept. 12 in Washington D.C.