Indonesia Revises Counter-Terrorism Legislation Following Jakarta Terrorism

Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised changes to Indonesia’s terrorism plan in the wake of the Jakarta attacks last January. The government moved quickly to reform the legislation, which originally went into affect in 2003. The new plan broadens the definition of terrorism and makes it easier to arrest and detain suspects.

Security officials say about 500 Indonesians have traveled to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State (IS), and estimate one in five have returned to Indonesia. Police have long complained that even when they are aware of terrorist activities they are unable to detain known jihadists unless they threaten or actually carry out an attack.

New revisions would permit detainees to be held up to 90 days without representation, and in preventive detention a detainee can remain for 120 days.

The law also allows the government to target anyone who recruits members for, or cooperates with a terrorist group. In addition, all electronic communications, financial transactions, and intelligence information can be used in court as evidence.

Indonesians who join a jihadist group or participate in terrorism in foreign countries will be stripped of their citizenship.

M Praseyto, Indonesian Attorney General, noted that a new category will be added to the legislation, which focus on the sale of chemical, biological, radiological, micro-organism, nuclear, and radioactive weapons for committing acts of terrorism.

A government official, who saw the draft of counter-terrorism law noted, that the new legislation now segregates prisoners convicted on terrorism charges to prevent indoctrination of other inmates. It will also separate terrorist convicts into three categories: masterminds of planning attacks, those who carry out planned attacks, and followers.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has asked the parliament to reject amendments as “overly broad and vague.” HRW’s Deputy Asian Director Phelim Kine noted that the government has not provided any details on the judicial process of stripping a person’s citizenship.

Human rights concerns resonate in Indonesia, which until 1998 was a dictatorship under President Suharto, which saw thousands of people detained without trial during his thirty-year reign. Indonesia’s security leadership say the bill less harsh than several of their Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) neighbors and is necessary to address the current threat.