Asia Times, Sep 21, 2005
Taking aim at Indonesian terrorists
By Bill Guerin
JAKARTA - A senior judge in the world's most populous Islamic country, declaring
that "killing is a big thing in the eyes of God, blood must be paid with blood",
sentenced a Muslim militant to death by firing squad this month.
It was one of two related verdicts coming down within a day of each other. The South
Jakarta District Court on September 13 convicted Iwan Darmawan Mutho, 30, and a
day later Achmad Hasan, 34, of terrorism by helping to organize and carry out a
suicide bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and by hiding the
perpetrators. The September 9, 2004 blast killed 11 Muslim Indonesians, including
bystanders, security guards, police and passing motorists, as well as people queuing
to enter the embassy. The suicide bomber, Heri Gulon, died in the blast. More than
170 were wounded. No foreigners were killed.
The two, charged under anti-terror laws enacted following the October 2002 Bali
nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, will join convicted
Bali bombers Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra on Indonesia's
death row.
Prosecutors accused Darmawan, also known as Rois, of working with Malaysians
Azhari Husin, popularly known as Azahari, and Noordin Mohammad, also known as
Top. Azahari and Noordin are likely the most wanted men in Southeast Asia. They are
said to have masterminded the September 9 attack and are also wanted for
involvement in a string of other terror attacks, including the Bali bombings and an
August 2003 blast that killed 12 people at Jakarta's J W Marriott Hotel.
Azahari, a British-educated engineer, is an explosives expert like Noordin. The two
learned their trade at al-Qaeda camps and have remained on the run for three years
despite a massive search by the Indonesian anti-terror police who are trained in part
by Australia and the United States. Both suspects have connections to the regional
terrorist network, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
Darmawan told police al-Qaeda had bankrolled the attack. The money was delivered
to Azahari, who drove the suicide bomber to within a few hundred meters of the
building, then fled on a motorcycle, looking over his shoulder at the explosion. After
his arrest in November 2004, Darmawan disclosed that Azahari had been stopped by
Indonesian police three times and let go each time after paying bribes.
Chief judge Rocki Panjaitan said there were no mitigating factors to warrant showing
Darmawan any leniency. On hearing the verdict Darmawan stood up, punched his fist
in the air and chanted "Allahu Akbar [God is Great]." A mob of supporters rallied to
the shout and chanted a jihad marching song in the packed courtroom. Claiming he
was innocent, he welcomed the death sentence because it would enable him to die a
martyr; "I am grateful to God for being sentenced to death because I will die a martyr.
Why should I be frightened?"
In a similar show of bravado a day later, Hasan denounced his judges, shouting,
"They're all Satans, it's a satanic court. They're infidels. As long as they oppress
Muslim people, Muslim people will have revenge."
The prosecution said Hasan taught bomber Heri Gulon how to drive, surveyed the
embassy before the attack, conducted bomb-making classes for recruits and
purchased explosive materials for the embassy bomb. Presiding judge Achmad
Sobari also said there were no mitigating factors because Hasan expressed no
remorse for his "uncivilized actions" that had discredited Islam and killed his fellow
Indonesians. His lawyer, Ahmad Michdan, said the verdict would be appealed. "The
facts were not explored optimally and there were foreign influences of terrorism
propaganda to corner Muslims," he said.
The same court earlier jailed three others for periods of between 42 months and seven
years for relatively minor roles in the bombing. Two others are still on trial for alleged
involvement, and other recently arrested suspects are expected to be brought to trial
soon.
A balancing act
There have been an impressive number of arrests and convictions of terrorists under
President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono. He is juggling the needs of the country, in
terms of creating a secure and safe environment for investment, with the
excruciatingly subtle threats posed to Indonesia's vast majority of peace-loving
Muslims by the radicalized few.
Soon after the terror unleashed by the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United
States, there was concern in Indonesia and across the Muslim world that the ensuing
US-led "war on terror" would become a prelude to a worldwide assault on Islam and
the Muslim world itself.
With the focus now on Islam more than ever, there is deep concern within the Islamic
community that the West will use the opportunity to subjugate the Muslim world and
force it into some sort of inferior class of Western civilization.
On the other hand, the basic ideology of the fundamentalists is a literal and intolerant
interpretation of the Koran. The crux of the extremists' oratory and their Taliban-style
spin is an attempt to sell the message that somehow Islam is a religion that sees
everything in terms of a struggle - not against one's self, but against a perceived
threat. Their war against the West is sustained by rage at cultural imperialism and
global injustice. The bombers may be few in number, but the sentiment they exploit is
the widespread psychological urge to see the face of their enemy in pain and grief.
Azahari was one of several Indonesians and Malaysians who went to Afghanistan in
the 1980s and early 1990s during, and in the immediate aftermath of, the CIA-backed
holy war against the Soviet-backed regime in Kabul. There, supported by massive US
and Saudi funding, JI's connections with al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists were
established. The invasion and occupation of Iraq has been one of the best recruitment
opportunities for the terrorist cells since the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's top Muslim council, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), has
declared liberalism and pluralism as haram, or forbidden under Islam, despite the
freedom of religion guaranteed by Indonesia's 1945 constitution. It issued religious
edicts in July that banned liberal interpretations of the faith, and death threats have
been made against members of the four-year-old Islamic Liberal Network, known as
JIL.
JIL says the MUI fatwas (edicts) that sparked the hate campaign coincide with the
closure of several unauthorized Christian churches by hardline Muslim groups and the
jailing this month of three Christian women for inviting Muslim children to church
social events. Some schools of thought see this as a backlash against liberal opinion
as well as a push by Muslim conservatives to reassert themselves after political Islam
failed to gain ground in last year's general elections.
The developments, if not firmly dealt with, could hurt the country's image as a
moderate Muslim nation. "Pluralism actually enriches our nation," stressed the
president, when saying he had ordered his subordinates to ensure that such violence
would not be repeated. He has also tasked Minister of Religious Affairs M Maftuh
Basyuni with investigating the reasons why the MUI issued the edicts.
Australia at risk
The Indonesian legal system has come under fire in Australia since Schapelle Corby
was sentenced to 20 years' jail for drug smuggling, though Jemaah Islamiyah's
alleged spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, was in March sentenced to only 30
months in prison for being part of a "sinister conspiracy" behind the bombings. There
was even more outrage across Australia last month when more than 30 militants
convicted over the Bali bombings were granted sentence remissions and Ba'asyir's
sentence was cut by 135 days. Police received a cell phone message 45 minutes
before the September 9, 2004 embassy bombing, warning that foreign missions in
Jakarta would be attacked unless Ba'asyir was freed, Australia's Foreign Minister,
Alexander Downer, said then. Indonesian police said they received no such warning.
Downer welcomed both the Darmawan and Hasan verdicts although Australia opposes
capital punishment.
Meanwhile, Darmawan said Australian dollars from Osama bin Laden directly funded
the embassy operation, designed, he explained, to avenge the killings of Muslims in
Afghanistan and Iraq by the US and its allies, including Australia. He had a chilling
message for Australia: "It should be borne in mind that any act of injustice against
Muslims anywhere in the world will not go unavenged. Muslims will certainly avenge
this."
Australian Ambassador David Ritchie said Friday after the verdicts, "Mindful of
President Yudhoyono`s warning about the possibility of more terrorist acts, we have
taken a preventive measure by issuing a travel advisory to Australians who intend to
visit Indonesia."
Yet the biggest threat to Australians may now be on their own soil. Kerry Collinson,
author of Crescent Moon Rising to be launched on October 1, argues that the irony for
Australia is that joining the "coalition of the willing" gave a gift of epic proportions to
the Islamic, extremist fringe. The clear and present danger is that Australia may suffer
an attack of disastrous proportions. Earlier this month al-Qaeda televised warnings
claiming Melbourne is now a target.
But increased terror attacks inside Indonesia are also a worry, though Sidney Jones,
Southeast Asia project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG), believes that
future terror attacks in Indonesia may be less professional and even less
well-executed than in the past. JI, she said, faces dissension over how to achieve its
objectives and is reeling at the double whammy of the arrest of more than 200 of its
members and public outrage over its tactics.
"There won't be another attack that's as big as the Bali bombings. JI's alive,
consolidating, actively recruiting, but most of its leadership is no longer interested in
bombing Western targets as it's wasting time, funds and human resources," she said.
While commending efforts to stamp out terrorism, Jones said the government still
needed to improve its intelligence while at the same time avoiding arbitrary legislation
and abuses of power.
ICG describes itself in glowing terms as "widely regarded as the world's leading
independent, non-government source of information, analysis and advice to
governments and international organizations on conflict issues".
There are double standards inherent in Jones's comments. Where is the credit for
Indonesia's success and the censure for the two major proponents of "arbitrary
legislation" and "abuses of power", ie, the US and the UK?
What civil liberties?
Even the US has acknowledged Jakarta has done an "admirable job of pursuing,
arresting and prosecuting terrorists". Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East
Asia and Pacific Affairs Eric G John, in testimony before a Senate Foreign Relations
committee last week, praised Indonesia for arresting and convicting more than 130
terrorists since the Bali bombings and establishing an effective counterterrorism police
force.
Generally, the war on terrorism has drastically altered the balance between civil
liberties and security, putting core values at risk. The challenge to mount an effective
domestic and international response to terrorism that does not, in the long run,
compromise basic human rights domestically or internationally, has been fudged by
both the US and the UK.
Protecting US or British citizens' freedom to live and go about their lives without fear of
terrorism is regarded as more important than the civil liberties of suspected terrorists.
The UK's proposed new Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2005 gives the government even
greater power than the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, legislation ruled
contrary to human rights laws by the House of Lords Judicial Committee. Since
January 2002 prisoners from the war in Afghanistan have been cooped up in wire
cages at US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with no access to lawyers - in
violation of international law.
Civil liberties advocates do not dispute the need for additional investigative methods to
address the threats of terrorism, but they are acutely concerned about the broader
and longer-term implications of sidelining legal rights in response to acts of terrorism.
The many critics of the "war on terror" rarely say the threat is not real, but argue
simply that sweeping arbitrary powers are a flawed approach to addressing it. There is
a rising chorus of concern that such powers are more likely to lead to a miscarriage of
justice and that prosecution in a court of law would be a better solution.
The most fundamental human rights are the freedom from arbitrary arrest and
detention at the whim of the executive and the right to a fair trial and due process.
"Security and human rights are not alternatives; they go hand in hand. Respect for
human rights is the route to security, not the obstacle to it," says Amnesty
International.
Nonetheless Jones makes one very valid point. Putting hurdles in the way of the
recruitment process, according to her, was one key to the success of
counterterrorism efforts, and this involved identifying people vulnerable to being
recruited. More than any other country, Indonesia's geography lends itself to extremist
groups that rely upon inconspicuousness and free movement. (Indonesia is an
archipelago of 17,000 islands, 6,000 inhabited, covering 1,826,440 square kilometers,
almost three times the size of Texas.)
Terrorists do not simply appear in full-blooded hate mode, trained and equipped to
launch their deadly attacks. Persistent dire social and economic circumstances
encourage the converts to take the easy way out. Instead of living for Islam, they want
to die for Islam. Being martyrs like the Bali bombers and the Australian Embassy
blast accomplices, for them has its rewards in the hereafter.
Hardline Islamic groups do not enjoy widespread public support in Indonesia. The
average Indonesian Muslim, judging by mass-media coverage of the issue, does not
see the issue as demanding attention. Though those calling for violence and
aggression in Indonesia are preaching in a wilderness, the danger is that the
extremist interpretations from radicals will strike a chord with the dispossessed and
disenchanted masses.
"You may read from time to time of the voice of small radical groups, but these voices
will not change the fact that mainstream Indonesia will continue to be moderate,
tolerant and democratic," Yudhyono told an Asian-European Editors Forum in Jakarta
this month. "Fighting terrorism will continue to be our top priority in Indonesia. We will
continue to pursue these terrorist groups wherever they may be hiding. We will
continue international cooperation involving the police, intelligence and immigration.
We will strengthen the hands of the religious moderates."
The retired general has also ordered chief security minister Admiral A S Widodo and
the National Intelligence Agency chief Syamsir Siregar to heighten the level of alert
against possible terrorist attacks, saying that domestic terrorist cells might be
planning another strike soon.
Yudhyono has focused anti-terrorism efforts on increasing international cooperation
and coordination to build a strong network within the region and beyond through a
series of agreements to fight terrorism and other transnational crimes.
Still, there seems to be something missing. JI is Indonesia's best-known terrorist
network. Its followers come from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore but it is rooted in
Central Java with cells scattered across the archipelago. Yet the government, the
police and intelligence agencies have not acknowledged that JI is an organization
operating within Indonesia nor even recognized it as a terrorist organization.
Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has worked in
Indonesia for 20 years as a journalist. He has been published by the BBC on East
Timor and specializes in business/economic and political analysis in Indonesia.
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