Jakarta – The government and lawmakers have agreed on a plan to revise the 2003 Law on Terror before ratifying two international conventions aimed at strengthening national efforts to root out terrorism.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs counterterror chief Ansyaad Mbai told legislators the current law on terrorism was still far from adequate and needed amendments.
They spoke at a hearing Wednesday night with the House of Representatives Commission I on foreign affairs and defense. National Intelligence Agency (BIN) head Syamsir Siregar also addressed the group.
During the meeting, lawmakers responded positively to the government's call for revisions to the law. They also agreed with moves to ratify two United Nations conventions on terrorism and terror financing.
"We are aware of terrorist threats and it is a global issue. Therefore, ratifying these conventions is very important to us," senior Golkar legislator Slamet Effendi Yusuf told the hearing.
Sutanto said he was concerned about the weaknesses of Indonesia's antiterror law. "We have been left behind by other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, which have just revised their antiterror laws," he said.
Sutanto said Indonesia's terror law tended to focus on apprehending suspects rather than protecting the public from attacks.
"In other countries, civilians are not allowed to be involved in any forms of military training because that is the military's privilege. In Indonesia, especially in conflict areas, there are groups who regularly hold military-style training sessions," Ansyaad said.
He compared the courts' handling of terrorism cases here to what took place in France. "They (France) have a centralized trial system specifically concerned with terrorism." To ensure impartiality, all terror trials were held in Paris with judges and prosecutors specialized in handling terror cases. In Indonesia, the trials were often held in the regions where the bomb attacks took place, Ansyaad said.
He said a centralized system would also hand down more consistent verdicts to terrorists.
Sutanto said it was urgent for Indonesia to ratify the two UN conventions. Terrorism was an international problem and signing the conventions would allow police here to cooperate better with their counterparts overseas, especially in the pursuit of terror financiers.
Police data showed that in February 2002, Malaysian terror fugitive Noordin M. Top received US$86,000 in funds from Al-Qaeda, Sutanto said. Noordin is believed to be the mastermind of the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, which killed a total of 225 people.
"And in May 2003, Noordin also received US$130,000 from Palestinians to carry out attacks in Indonesia." A man recently detained for allegedly transferring terrorist funds, Abdullah Sonata, had handled money meant for bomb attacks in the Philippines, he said.
Sutanto assured lawmakers that ratifying the conventions would not lead to unwanted foreign intervention into Indonesian affairs as some had suspected.