The House of Representatives and the government have both guaranteed that deliberations of the Terrorism Law revision would be completed this month.
By
·4 minutes read
ANTARA FOTO/MUHAMMAD IQBAL
Densus 88 Counterterrorism Squad secure the wife of a suspected terrorist during a raid in Gempol, Tangerang, Banten, Wednesday (16/5/2018). The Densus 88 squad members also arrested three suspected terrorists in the raids which were carried out in three locations in Tangerang, Banten.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The House of Representatives and the government have both guaranteed that deliberations of the Terrorism Law revision would be completed this month. Articles that the House and the government have agreed upon will not be redeliberated to speed up completion.
“The Terrorism Law revision’s deliberation must be accelerated to provide a legal umbrella and certainty in terrorism eradication,” House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo said in his opening speech of the House’s fifth sitting session in 2017 and 2018. The speech was made in a House plenary session at the Legislative Complex in Jakarta on Friday (18/5/2018).
A meeting to deliberate the Terrorism Law revision between the law revision special committee and the government will be held on Wednesday (23/5/2018). Special committee chair from the Gerindra Party Muhammad Syafii said the meeting would be focused on discussing the only issue left undeliberated, namely the definition of an act of terrorism. “Articles that have been deliberated, including Article 43J on the Indonesian Military’s involvement, will not be deliberated again. We will only discuss the definition. Just that one issue,” Syafii said.
A majority of the 10 House factions agree with the proposal that terrorism be defined as an act that fulfills elements of political and ideological motives as well as threats to state security. However, the government and House factions still need to discuss where to put this phrase.
Two options have been proposed thus far. The first is to include the phrase “political and ideological motives as well as threat to state security” in terrorism’s definition within the body of the law revision. The second is to include the phrase in the law revision’s general explanation section, outside of the main body. To accelerate the deliberation process, Bambang said he had urged the discussions to be open to the public.
Government’s seriousness
The government said it was serious in encouraging the military’s involvement in terrorism mitigation and eradication. The certainty of reactivating the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (Koopsusgab) was reaffirmed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in his speech during a breaking-of-the-fast gathering with state institution chairs, working Cabinet members, religious figures and business leaders at the State Palace in Jakarta on Friday.
“The government is also in the process of establishing a joint special operations command, comprising elite personnel from the Army\'s Special Forces [Kopassus], the marines and the Air Force\'s Special Forces [Paskhas], in order to provide security for the people,” the President said.
He explained that special forces from the three military branches would only be deployed in urgent situations. “The joint special forces will be deployed if situations develop outside of the National Police’s capacity,” the President said. This means that that the Koopsusgab will only be involved when the National Police chief deems that terror intensity is high. However, it is the President who has the authority to order the Koopsusgab’s deployment in fighting terror.
Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said the Koopsusgab was planned to comprise elite personnel of the Kopassus\' Gultor Unit, the Navy’s Denjaka specialized squad and the Air Force’s Bravo 90 special force.
In relation to the recent series of attacks in several regions, Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chair Ma’ruf Amin said he had urged law enforcers to thoroughly investigate the cases. Ma’ruf said he deplored the terror acts and believed that swift action was necessary to prevent more attacks from occurring in the future. “I fully support all law enforcement agencies, namely the National Police, the military and the State Intelligence Agency [BIN] to resolve this case immediately and process the perpetrators in line with the law,” Ma’ruf said.
University of Indonesia international relations lecturer Edy Prasetyono said the military’s involvement in terrorism eradication was common, considering the military’s wide-ranging capability, including early detection, action and situation recovery. “What is important is how the military is involved in tackling terrorism. This must be done through the state’s political decisions,” he said.
