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.