Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – The House of Representatives aims to make a comprehensive Terrorism Law that respects human rights principals amid concerns about law enforcers' alleged rights violations when handling terrorism cases.
A member of the House's special committee on the amendment of the law, Arsul Sani, said the House had recommended the establishment of a supervisory body to monitor the performance of the police's Densus 88 antiterror squad and other institutions relevant to counterterrorism.
"The police don't agree with the plan because they claim establishing a new body would be costly to the state budget." he said on Wednesday.
Instead, the force insisted on extending the detention period of terrorism suspects to 30 days from previously seven. "The police claimed seven days was not enough to make the suspects open their mouths," he said.
Almost all factions at the House rejected the idea considering the potential abuse of power by the police officers against the suspects during the 30-day period, Arsul said.
In addition, the police had also insisted that the new law should give them the power to arrest people suspected of planning or preparing a terrorist attack.
"The deliberation of this amendment is a heavy task because we have to find the best and most balanced formula," he added. (bbs)