Spying on neighbors?

Most people would agree that spying on one's neighbors is detestable. And yet, this is what the intelligence institutions and police want the country's residents to do in order to help them identify terrorist suspects.

Days after the Australian Embassy blast, police announced that the fugitives, Dr. Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top, both Malaysian nationals, were believed to be behind the bombing. They are at the top the police's most-wanted list, and along with two other possible accomplices, rented a house in Kampung Menceng, Cengkareng, West Jakarta, in July.

Azahari and Noordin used the house for only five days, despite the fact that they had paid Rp 700,000 for two months of rent.

Locals, including the neighborhood chief and the owner of the house, claimed they knew nothing about the identity of the four, and only became aware of who they were -- according to the police version of the story -- a day after the two left on July 26, when officers arrived to question Yahya, the house owner.

It is interesting to note that local residents, including the neighborhood chief and Yahya, were not aware that two of the four were wanted for a series of bombings over the past couple of years.

Many observers say that neighborhoods should have at least some kind of security network, under the control of the neighborhood chief, popularly known here as the RT. They assert that the law stipulates that families with guests spending the night must report it within a day, but it has not been enforced properly.

From the point of view of intelligence and police interests, a neighborhood chief is thus legally obliged to keep watch over people living in his area of jurisdiction, in order to prevent possible dangers caused by residents.

It may be remembered that Jakarta's governor asked residents in all neighborhoods in the city to watch out and observe the actions of Acehnese families living in their neighborhoods, due to his suspicions that Acehnese were behind the blast at the Jakarta Stock Exchange a few years ago.

Many residents at the time deplored the move as being unfair: Even if it were true that several Acehnese masterminded the bombing, should suspicion be spread over the entire Acehnese community in Jakarta?

From the point of view of the Indonesian security infrastructure known as Hankamrata, which stands for the "people's total defense and security" system and was introduced during the New Order regime of president Soeharto, the involvement of neighborhood communities in anticipating possible crimes and other instigators of disorder, is a must. This at the same time confirms the RT as one of the officials responsible for maintaining security in his area of jurisdiction.

The RT must know all newcomers to the neighborhood, and which of those must be given special attention. This was what the neighborhood chief of Kampung Menceng failed to do, even though one of the four had reported to him, and had duly provided him with a copy of his ID card (KTP).

As it was, the local residents and RT were heedless of the existence of the fugitives, and of their five-day stay in Yahya's house. Nobody in the neighborhood apparently paid special attention to the fugitives' activities until after they had bolted.

During the recently televised candidate dialogs, vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla also said that neighborhood chiefs were at the front line of national security, but many others say that the ruling is no longer popular nowadays. They argue that every citizen has the right to go anywhere in the archipelago, without any need to report to anyone. "Should I report to the RT that, let's say, my parents-in-law are spending the night at my house? No way," one resident argued.

The core of the problem lies not on whether a report is submitted to the neighborhood chief. The key lies with the police. If the RT and his neighborhood community should be involved in preventing any serious crimes from taking place, the police must be more proactive by, among other things, providing the RT and residents with adequate information, including the names and photographs of the people believed to have the ability to create disorder.

The neighborhood chief could then have the pictures displayed around the area under his jurisdiction. As long as criminals remain at large, those pictures must not be removed. If this had been done, Dr. Azahari and Noordin M. Top might not have been able to escape from their safe house in Cengkareng.