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House agrees to expand military role in terror fight
Jakarta Post - October 21, 2016
The new role, which will be included in the Terrorism Law revision, will go beyond what is mandated in the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law, which only allows soldiers to assist terrorism operations under the command of the National Police.
If the proposal goes to the plenary session for passage in the next sitting session next month, the TNI will be allowed to launch their own operations in terrorism attacks involving the president, vice president and their families; Indonesian citizens abroad; Indonesian Embassies; Indonesian ships and airplanes and foreign ships and airplanes in the country's territory. It will also allow the military to step in if a terrorist act extends beyond the country's territory but threatens national sovereignty and security.
Arguing that terrorism is an extraordinary crime, the House's special committee for deliberation of the Terrorism Law revision said the right to arrest was only allowed under the special conditions.
Other than that, all counterterrorism measures are in the hands of the police or joint task forces consisting of the two institutions. "Terrorism is also a matter of sovereignty. [Both institutions] should share the responsibility," committee chairman Muhammad Syafi'i said on Thursday.
"However, we agree to maintain a law enforcement approach and won't let it become a military approach. The TNI may have the authority to arrest suspected terrorists, but then they must hand them over to the police." added the Gerindra Party politician.
The provision will be put as an addendum to article 43 that says policies and national strategy on combating terrorism are implemented by the National Police, the TNI and related agencies which will be coordinated by a non-ministerial government institution that conducts antiterrorism activities.
The House and government have been working on a revision of the Terrorism Law that aims to empower counterterrorism measures in the wake of attacks by assailants affiliated with the militant Islamic State movement.
In Operation Tinombala in Poso, Central Sulawesi, the military has helped the police catch and kill the country's most wanted terrorist Santoso and dispersed his network, the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT).
Despite meeting resistance in previous deliberations of the Terrorism Law, the operation's success has swayed the House to favor a strong military role in counterterrorism initiatives.
Another major proposal in the bill is to assign the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) to handle and coordinate all institutions, including the TNI and police in the operations, from preventive measures, operations and rehabilitation.
The deliberation of the terrorism bill has gone through heavy debate about the power struggle between the country's security and defense bodies, which are competing with each other to be given more power in antiterrorism efforts.
"Terrorism nowadays is developing, they [terrorists] establish and manage military-based organizations. They are doing military exercises. To face such a situation, we can't avoid the military option," TNI Defense Power director general Mayor Gen. Bambang Hartawan said.
Human rights group Imparsial objected to the military being given an official counterterrorism role, saying that there should not be any space for military involvement in the terrorism bill. More involvement will threaten human rights as the TNI often acts in a repressive way, Imparsial director Al-Araf said.
"Military involvement in countering terrorism could be a serious threat to the country's democracy. It should be in the hands of law enforcers only. The TNI can be involved only when its assistance is requested," Al-Araf said.
Al-Araf said the TNI providing assistance in counterterrorism operations was already stipulated in the TNI Law and thus there was no need to include it in the terrorism bill.
After repeatedly scrutinizing the bill, rights groups have deemed several other articles of the bill to be overly repressive. Article 28 increases the detention period of suspected terrorists to 30 days from the current seven days, which some are worried could lead to protracted abuses of power.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/10/21/house-agrees-expand-military-role-terror-fight.html.
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