After enjoying a lull in terrorist attacks since 2005, Indonesia was suddenly shocked on July 17 by two almost-simultaneous bomb attacks that rocked two of the country’s most luxurious hotels, the JW Marriot and the Ritz-Carlton located in the prestigious Mega Kuningan business district in South Jakarta.
The blasts killed seven people, six foreigners and one Indonesian chef, and severely injured 50 others.
After conducting a thorough investigation, the police established the blasts were the work of two suicide bombers, who based themselves in the hotels as paying customers several days earlier.
The police also managed to track down the whereabouts of another set of bombs in room 1808 of the JW Marriot.
“The bombs, built in room 1808, were actually ready to be detonated but thank God [they] didn’t,” National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri told journalists after the blasts.
After a complex process of identification, the police then deployed 88th Anti-Terror Special Detachment (Densus 88) to hunt down the rest of the terror cell. Densus 88 operatives managed to track the terrorists down one by one at their hideouts.
Almost all terrorists were killed during successive police raids including Noordin Mohammad Top of Malaysia.
Everybody then raised their thumbs to the police’s success at fighting terrorism. Many believed that this time the success was the fruit of years of never-ending diligence in fighting and crippling terrorist organisations.
To this date, there are more than 400 people who used to be involved in various kinds of terrorism in this country. Most of them have already been sent to jail, some were given death penalties while more than 100 ex-terrorist convicts have cooperated with police.
However, some might be critical at the way Indonesian police fight terrorism, law enforcers would never be able to stop terrorism for good.
Critics said the “fire extinguisher” style of the Indonesian police could only be used whenever an incident takes place, while believing that the most important challenge was how to prevent future attacks.
“The most important thing the police should do in order to halt terrorism for good is to cut down terrorism right from the start,” Insp. Gen. (ret) Ansyaad Mbai once said.
“And to be able to do that, we should be able to detect and prevent potential terrorism acts.”
Ansyaad, head of the counter-terrorism desk at the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal Law and Security Affairs, added that the right instrument that could be used to achieve that goal was the intelligence agency.
However, he said, the current Intelligence Law did not allow intelligence agents to detain and question people. The Intelligence Law only allows these officers to write down whatever happens before their eyes.
“By giving the intelligence agency the right to detain and question suspected people, then we would be able to prevent similar terror attacks later on,” he said.
Ansyaad’s statement represents the voice of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police in this particular field.
However, the discourse to improve the intelligence’ authority sparked controversy.
Human rights activists, for instance, have directly accused the suggestion to improve the intelligence agency’s authority as a hidden agenda to reactivate military supremacy in this country.
“The intelligence agency does not lack authority in the issue of terrorism,” said Hendardi of the Setara Institute.
“If the intelligence agency wants to do something about tackling terrorism, they have the capability to do it. The problem is they lack the will to do it in the first place.”
Other experts offer other perspectives in detecting terrorists.
“Stop treating ex-terrorists like enemies and start treating them with friendly manner,” intelligence observer Dynno Chressbon said in an informal discussion.
He said by treating those who had been involved in terrorism as useful informants, it was expected that the police would be able to control the situation.
About 100 ex-terrorist convicts are participating in a de-radicalization program that was initiated by a group of police officers who are involved in hunting terrorists.
“And there are still thousands of potential terrorists out there who are waiting for the opportunity to [be utilized],” Dynno said.
“We can’t just apply one method in dismantling terrorism. We need to use a host of methods simultaneously.”
Mardigu Wowiek Prasantyo, a psychologist who is frequently asked to assist the police in revealing the psychological conditions of terrorists, once said that implementing softer methods toward these terrorists could be considered a long term investment.
