Jakarta – National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Nur Kholis has said the Indonesian Military (TNI) can be involved in the fight against terrorism, but only as a last resort.
Possible military involvement in counterterrorism operations was regulated in Article 7 of Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI, he said.
"It is part of the TNI's main task to carry out military operations other than war and it can be conducted only based on political decisions of the state," said Nur Kholis as quoted by kompas.com in a written statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Despite such a legal basis, he said, it would be better if law enforcement against terrorism used legal approaches as what had been taken by the police all this time.
"The police should still handle the legal process of terrorism perpetrators by continuing to guarantee the protection of rights for terror victims and their families as well as terrorist suspects and defendants and their families," said Nur Kholis.
"The state must protect the rights of its people to live and to feel safe, including to get protection from criminal punishment," he added.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo wanted the involvement of TNI in counterterrorism to be included in the revision of Law No.15/2003 on Terrorism.
"Give authority to TNI to take part in counterterrorism operations in this draft law. Of course, it should be based on reasons that, I think, the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister [Wiranto] has prepared," said Jokowi during a plenary Cabinet meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace on Monday. (ebf)