Farouk Arnaz – Indonesia's prisons remain ineffective in countering terrorist indoctrination, top law-enforcement officials acknowledged over the weekend.
Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian, deputy head of the National Anti-Terrorism Agency (BNPT), said this had been made abundantly apparent after the two fugitives wanted for masterminding the killing of two police officers in Central Sulawesi last month were identified as former terror convicts.
"Santoso and Yasir, who are believe to be the masterminds behind the Palu shooting, are indeed recidivists," he said, adding they had previously been arrested between 2006 and 2007 for their roles in the bloody sectarian violence in Poso, Central Sulawesi, and released in 2009.
"They were both small fry back then, but now they've become the most important figures in the local terrorist cell. We have to admit that there are many weaknesses in our prison system in terms of dealing with terrorism," Tito went on.
"Our deradicalization program isn't working as fast as they can radicalize new members. We're one step behind their radicalization, but that doesn't mean that we're on the wrong track. What we need is to speed up the deradicalization program in cooperation with our law enforcement partners."
Since the 2002 Bali Bombings, almost 600 people have been arrested in a variety of terrorist plots, according to the Densus 88, the National Police's counterterrorism squad.
In 2010 alone, 100 suspected terrorists were arrested, more than a dozen of whom were repeat offenders, including firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, Abdullah Sunata and Abu Tholut.
Brig. Gen. Suryadarma Salim, a former head of Densus 88, said there could be several reasons why convicted terrorists would relapse into their old ways after being released. "One of the factors is the lack of communication between the former inmates and law enforcement officers," he said.
Suryadarma, who previously led the crackdown against the Poso terror cell in 2007, arresting around 100 suspects in the process, said the current deradicalization program might need to be re-evaluated.
"Maybe we can't defeat their ideology, or even have to," he said. "But what we must do is open a line of communication with the former convicts, to build a solid foundation for mutual trust. With good communication, we can win over their hearts and minds. That's the key to getting the soft approach to work."
Asludin Hatjani, a former lawyer for Santoso and Yasir, said his clients had started out small. "As I recall, they were charged with sheltering and protecting several Poso fugitives back in 2007," he said.
He added that Anang Muhtadin, another suspect now in custody for the May 25 drive-by shooting of a police post in Palu that left two officers dead, was also involved in the 2007 violence. Four other men have also been arrested for the shooting. Two others killed during police raids were Fauzan and Faruk.
Police have linked the Palu cell to Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), a hard-line group founded by Bashir. They also said it received training from Abu Tholut, a convicted terrorist who is believed to a member of both JAT and the Al Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah.
Abu Tholut is currently standing trial in Jakarta for running a militant training camp in Aceh. Bashir was earlier this month convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for funding the same operation.