Bill Prevents Wild Interpretation of TNI Role

The deliberations on the Terrorism Bill on Wednesday at the House of Representatives in Jakarta have decided to replace the phrase “threat to state security” in the definition of terrorism with “disruption of security”.

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

A meeting between the Special Committee on the Terrorism Bill and government representatives takes place in the Nusantara II building of the House of Representatives, Jakarta, Wednesday (23/5/2018). The meeting discussed the definition of terrorism. The government representatives included Head of the National Law Development Agency (BPHN) Enny Nurbaningsih (center), Harkristuti Harkrisniwo (left) and former justice minister Muladi (right).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The deliberations on the Terrorism Bill on Wednesday (23/5/2018) at the House of Representatives in Jakarta have decided to replace the phrase “threat to state security” in the definition of terrorism with “disruption of security”. The move is intended to avoid indiscriminate interpretations of the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) role in counterterrorism operations.

However, the House is not yet unanimous on the change. Three of the 10 House factions – the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), National Awakening Party (PKB) and Golkar –do not agree with the rephrased definition of terrorism. They still agree on the definition of terrorism the government proposed: “any acts that use violence or the threat of violence that cause an atmosphere of widespread terror or fear that could result in massive casualties and/or cause damage or destruction of strategic vital objects, the environment, public facilities, or international facilities”.

The seven other factions – the Nasdem Party Faction, the United Development Party (PPP), the Hanura Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN) – demanded that the government\'s proposed definition be expanded by adding the phrase “with ideological, political or security-disruptive motives”.

However, the factions’ stance could still change, because the working meeting on Thursday (24/5/2018) between the Justice and Human Rights Minister and the House Special Committee on the Terrorism Bill was still open to lobbying. Today\'s decision will be taken to the plenary meeting tomorrow.

Phrasing

National Law Development Agency head Enny Nurbaningsih of the Law and Human Rights Ministry said removing the phrase “threat to state security” from the terrorism definition was intended to prevent indiscriminate interpretations of the TNI’s involvement in counterterrorism efforts.

"If the phrase is not replaced, the term \'state security\' can be seen as relating to the military’s duties in the TNI Law. We made the definition more general so it is not tied to specific terms," she said.

The PPP faction’s Arsul Sani, who is on the bill’s special committee, added that the term “threat to state security” could be open to interpretations that the counterterrorism paradigm had shifted from a legal to a military approach. "That is exactly what we do not want," he said.

Special committee member Risa Mariska from the PDI-P argued that the presence or absence of the phrase “threat to state security” in the definition of terrorism would not have much impact on the TNI’s counterterrorism role, as the TNI could still be involved under the Terrorism Bill and Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI.

According to her, the loophole in the TNI’s broader involvement should be closed through a definition that did not include the phrase “disruption of security”, like the government initially proposed.

Special committee deputy chairman Supiadin Aries Saputra of the Nasdem Party shared Risa’s view. "The TNI’s role is clear, there is no problem. The TNI can still [become involved] because it can refer to the stipulations in the TNI Law and in the Terrorism Law," he said.

The TNI’s counterterrorism role is already covered in Article 43J of the draft Terrorism Bill, which states that the TNI’s involvement in counterterrorism operations was part of Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW, or OMSP in Indonesian). However, the technical process for involving the military will be arranged in more detail in the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) that will refer to the TNI Law.

Article 7, Paragraph (2) of the TNI Law stipulates that the TNI’s main duties include MOOTW, which covers counterterrorism operations. The implementation of MOOTW is determined by state policy and political decision.

The scheme to regulate the TNI’s counterterrorism role, Enny said, consisted of two options. One is to regulate its involvement according to the level of the threat, as Britain does through the United Kingdom Terror Threat Level. This would mean that the military is deployed only when the threat approaches a critical level.

The second option was to restrict the TNI’s involvement to an area where acts of terror have occurred, or in a specific situation involving acts of terror. For example, the TNI would be deployed only when an act of terror had taken place in international waters, at vital state objects or in other countries. Outside this restriction, the police must take the lead in counterterrorism efforts.

(AGE/APA/SAN)