TNI criticized over antiterror desks policy

TNI criticized over antiterror desks policy

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An order from the military leadership to all 11 regional
military commands to set up special counterterrorism desks has
been criticized by right activists concerned the move could lead
to the stifling of government critics.

People are still traumatized by rights violations during the
repressive New Order regime, Usman Hamid, coordinator of the
National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of the
Violence, said on Tuesday.

He warned that the repression of the New Order was being
revived in the name of "counterterrorism".

Following a series of deadly terrorist attacks in the country,
including the Oct. 1 bombings in Bali, President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono instructed the Indonesian Military (TNI) to take an
active role in the fight against terrorism.

That order is now being implemented in the creation of special
antiterrorism teams at each of the TNI's 11 regional military
commands -- a move that comes after remarks by TNI chief Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto concerning the reactivation of the TNI's much
criticized territorial role.

During the New Order, the military's territorial role helped
former president Soeharto silence his critics and political
opponents.

Endriartono also ordered the reactivation of the military's
intelligence unit at the village level, with the unit comprising
noncommissioned officers, known as Babinsa, who would work within
communities to help the police fight terrorism.

He said "communication between civilians and the intelligence
community was severed during the reform years", which saw the
transfer of domestic security to the police.

Usman said the revival of the TNI's territorial role was just
an excuse for the military's failure to provide security for the
state.

He said that looking at existing regulations, the role of the
TNI and its intelligence units in helping to combat terrorism was
clear: to support the police.

"There is no need to revive the territorial role (of the
TNI)," he said.

During her tenure, president Megawati Soekarnoputri issued a
decree on the role of the National Intelligence Agency in
coordinating among all institutions dealing with security issue,
"but as of today, there has never been an evaluation to examine
whether the agency has been able to carry out the job", Usman
said.

"There is no reason to say the Indonesian people do not
support the government's efforts to fight terrorism. What the
government has to do is evaluate its own performance, instead of
issuing so many controversial policies," he said.