Combating Terrorism Needs Cooperation and It Must be All Out

An international communities has common perception that terrorism is an extra ordinary crimes, because its can harm and break humankind future and endangering peaceful situation and makes the world to be worst condition because terrorism could be made predjudice, suspecious and feud feeling among nations. Because of that, we must happy if the Indonesian government and their House of Representatives have same perception that TNI must be given by bigger role in war on terror.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) will soon be able to deploy its forces to combat terrorism without having to secure approval from the President or the House of Representatives. Previously, government officials and lawmaker have agreed.

The agreement, which will be stipulated in the revision on the 2003 Terrorism Law, comes amid debate surrounding the ideal estent of the military’s role in counter terrorism operations.

The goverment officials and lawmakers are admant that the military is crucial to beating terrorist groups. The military’s role in counterterrorism was final, and the details of the extent of the TNI’s involvement in anti-terror operations would be stipulated in a Presidential Regulation (Perpres) isued by President Joko Widodo.

Article 7 (2) of the 2004 TNI Law has stipulated that the military is allowed to participate in anti-terror operations, classified as non-war military operations, based on the police’s request and the President’s approval.

Therefore, lawmakers have decided not to put the details in the revised counter law to avoid redundancy. Meanwhile, the government should issue a Perpres to stipulate the details of the TNI’s counterterrorism role, such as how and in what conditions the TNI could be involved in counterterrorism operations.

Must be known, the prevailing law already accommodated the military’s role in counterterrorism based on political decisions by the state, involving the President and the House.

Since terrorism is a crime, the country would stay within the criminal justice system and law enforcement would stay with the National Police with regard to protecting human rights. Following, a number of terror attacks that occurred on Indonesian soil since last year, Jokowi in May called for stronger antiterrorism law and an increased role for the TNI in the country’s war against terrorism.

Indirectly, Presiden Jokowi had agreed with the TNI’s opinion that terrorism threat didn’t criminal only but its had been spreaded as threat to state security, because of that TNI must be goven bigger role to overcome terrorism threat through harmonize and close cooperation with the National Police and other security agencies such as BNPT and State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Voicing un-similiar concerns, Deputy director Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Puri Kencana Putri slammed the government regulation or Perpres, saying that it would threaten the system of cheecks and balances between executives and legislative institutions.

“The Perpres seems like a blank check. If the political decision is made only with the Perpres and without House’s approval, what of the evaluation process? There should be a clear oversight mechanism,” she said further and also explained the government and House had never evaluated the prevailing military’s operations such as in Poso, Central Sulawesi, which had been ongoing jointly with the National Police for more than decace.

I think, Kontras must be understand that the government regulation will be stipulated and managed the role of military in war on terror must be given a huge and deep attention on the possibility of human rights violation, because if it was happened, the role of military in war on terrorism just only creates a new human rights violation.

Therefore, Jokowi’s administration will be arranged those issue perfectly and prudently, because the fail of TNI’s role in counterterrorism operations could have erased the chance of Jokowi to be elected because those issues could be made as political issue to harm and conered him.

*) Agung Wahyudin, Senior observer at Information Strategic of Indonesia Study Center (LSISI) Jakarta. Live in Depok, West Java.