[Nasional-e] The threat of terrorism

[Ambon]

The Jakarta Post
Sept. 24, 2002

The threat of terrorism

The reaction by many politicians and organizations to recent reports about
threats of international terrorist attacks in Indonesia has reached
unhealthy proportions, especially with the latest claims that these reports
were nothing more than American propaganda. The United States has become the
target of many condemnations this past week because the source of the
reports have apparently come from there, or more specifically, from leaked
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents.
But this American bashing, which now seems to be a favorite pastime for some
politicians, is not helping the situation. Apart from unnecessarily
straining relations between our two countries, it is diverting attention
away from the core problem, which this nation should really be addressing:
dealing with the threat of terrorism.
American media publications last week reported a confession made by a
certain Oman al-Faruq to the CIA about impending strikes on American targets
in Indonesia around the time of the first anniversary of the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks in the United States. Faruq was arrested in Indonesia in
June and handed over to the U.S. authorities because apparently he was a
suspected member of al-Qaeda, which Washington blames for the 9/11 attack.
As it turned out, his confession was the basis of what Washington called
"specific and credible information" in ordering the closure of American
diplomatic missions in Indonesia and several other Asian capitals around
Sept. 11. The media reports also stated that Faruq claimed to have planned a
plot to assassinate President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Also last week, the Singapore and Philippine governments came out with
reports on the activities of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which they said was
acting on behalf of Southeast Asia's al-Qaeda network, or at least had close
links with it. The reports pointed at Indonesia as the origins of some of
the leaders of JI, whose final goal was to turn the region into their
version of a grand Islamic state. This information apparently came also from
the confessions made by suspected terrorists in the Philippines and
Singapore, including a number of Indonesian nationals.
The United States, Singapore and the Philippines, as well as Malaysia, have
all taken firm steps to deal with the threat of terrorism. Whether or not
Faruq's confession is credible, Washington was acting in its own interests
when it ordered the closure of its diplomatic missions in Jakarta and
elsewhere in the region.
While a dose of criticism against Washington and its policies on the
terrorism issue are merited, excessive indulgence would be detrimental to
our own national interests. Some leading politicians have responded to the
chain of events by indulging in conspiratorial theories of an American plot
to undermine Indonesia. It is even more unfortunate that some of these
theories are gaining currency among the public.
It would have been better if the energy and resources had been spent to look
into the real, rather than wrongly perceived, problems that this country
faces: That terrorism is a clear and present danger, and that we as a nation
have yet to determine how best to deal with the threat.
Instead of ridiculing Faruk's purported confessions to the CIA, Indonesia
would have done well to investigate them. Instead of repeatedly denying the
presence of the al-Qaeda network in the country, the authorities would have
done well to take heed of the reports about the activities of the operatives
and organizations allegedly linked to the group.
The threat of terrorism is too serious an issue to be dealt with lightly the
way some politicians would have it. Indonesia, of all the countries in the
region, should know this, having been at the receiving end of terrorist
attacks ourselves in recent years, albeit by local rather than international
groups.
Indonesia has not come up with a firm plan on how it will handle the threat.
As an emerging democracy, it will have to deal with the issue without
trampling on the rights of those suspected to be part of the international
terrorist network.
The way the authorities arrested Faruq and handed him over to the United
States raised serious legal questions. Irrespective of his nationality --
Kuwait has denied that he was one of its nationals, while his Indonesian
wife in Jakarta insisted that he hailed from eastern Indonesia -- the
authorities should have made sure that his legal rights were fully
respected.
Indonesia no longer has the draconian law similar to the internal security
act that Malaysia and Singapore invoke in arresting suspected terrorists
without putting them on trial. But that is all the more reason for the
Indonesian authorities to be more vigilant about the activities of those
suspected to be part of an international terrorist organization.
The last thing we want is to revive the subversion law that allows the
government to make an arrest without a trial. History everywhere has shown
that such powers would only be abused, which would make the state not all
that different from the terrorists themselves. And from our own experience
over the last 40 years, state-sponsored terrorism is just as bad, if not
worse.