Terror and Public Trust

ANTARA FOTO/DOK POLRES PANDEGLANG

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto (second left) was attacked by an unknown person during his visit to Pandeglang, Banten, Thursday (10/10/2019).

The prevention of terrorism is becoming increasingly complicated following the reported involvement of families to avoid suspicion that could prompt police surveillance. Furthermore, many citizens still seem rather unconcerned about terrorism.

The Police and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) have been able to detect the patterns and strategies of radical groups that often commit terrorism in Indonesia. Law No. 5 of 2018 on the eradication of terrorism, which is comprehensive in that it regulates efforts to counter radicalization, deradicalization and prevention of terror acts, is actually quite helpful.

The law was issued by the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) after last year’s bomb attacks in Surabaya, which involved families. However, none of the subordinate government regulations to implement the law have been issued. After the law was passed, the elite was busy with the presidential and legislative elections. In fact, throughout 2018, the National Police arrested 396 suspected terrorists, far more than the 176 arrestees in 2017. The number of terrorist acts also increased from 17 cases in 2017 to 42 in 2018.

In early October this year, we were shocked by the stabbing of then-coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister Gen. (Ret.) Wiranto in Pandeglang, Banten. The National Police arrested around 40 suspects in several locations on Java beyond Java in connection with the incident. One month later, a suicide bomb by RMN at the Medan Police station in North Sumatra left six people injured.

KOMPAS/AUFRIDA WISMI WARASTRI

Officers carry boxes from an alley of the house of the suspected perpetrator of a suicide bomb attack against the Medan Police office in Belawan I village, Medan Belawan, North Sumatra (Thursday, 14/11/2019). The suspect is believed to be a Quran reading teacher.

The National Police arrested dozens of suspected terrorists from many places in Java and Sumatra related to the suicide bombing in Medan. RMN is believed to have become radical after marrying DA, who reportedly was communicating with terrorism convicts in Medan Women\'s Penitentiary.

The prison is known as a jihadi recruitment ground, as seen in the case of the suspect behind the stabbing of Wiranto, Abu Rara, and his wife. The government must follow through on its plan to create special prisons for terrorism convicts, so as to narrow the space for recruiting by radical groups.

There are various views as to why terrorists are getting younger, and one of them is the lack of opportunities for self-fulfillment. Moreover, injustice, inequality and disparity in access to economic, political and legal resources are also cited as triggers of frustration among some young people.

Mark Juergensmeyer in his book Terror in The Mind of God: The Global Rises of Religious Violence (2003) writes that the government and officials must be careful in taking steps to overcome radicalism. The state and radical groups are competing for public legitimacy to smooth out their respective agendas.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Officers of the National Police’s Densus 88 counterterrorism squad present a number of suspected perpetrators of acts of terrorism in a press conference at the National Police headquarters, Jakarta, Thursday (17/10/2019).

In order to prevent a decline in public trust, it is necessary to assess whether our institutions, at all levels, function well to meet the needs of citizens. High public trust will make it easy to ask people to cooperate to prevent terrorism. Conversely, if it decreases, radical groups can use it for justification. Deradicalization efforts carried out by the government will be in vain.