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earning from irregularities identified behind the death of alleged terrorist Siyono, the House of Representatives has urged the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) to coordinate with the National Police for the establishment of standard operational procedures (SOP) in terrorism prevention.

The call has also been made in response to data from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) that reveals that, between 2007-2016, 121 cases in which suspects had been abused by police officers and tortured to death.

Gerindra Party politician Romo Muhammad Syafi’i said that in the long-term, the SOP would help deradicalization programs suggesting that current’s treatment of suspected terrorists could create new radical movements as a result of the public’s distrust of law enforcers.

“If the police, particularly their Densus 88 antiterror squad, have no clear procedures that follow human rights principles, it’s not surprising that they arbitrarily kill and shoot terrorist suspects, ignoring legal procedures,” Romo said on Wednesday.

The BNPT was also expected to arrange a mental and physical rehabilitation program for families of terrorist suspects who died in the custody of police officers, he added.

Siyono, allegedly one of the leaders of the Neo Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group, was arrested by Densus 88 in March without an arrest warrant and died while in police custody. An autopsy organized by Komnas HAM and forensic doctors under the country’s second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, stated that he died from a broken rib piercing his heart, which contradicts earlier an statement by the police that he died from internal bleeding triggered by a head injury sustained during a fight with an officer.

Siyono was pronounced dead four days after his arrest, leaving a wife and five children who, according to Komnas HAM, suffered mental trauma.

Daeng Muhammad of the National Mandate Party (PAN) emphasized that terrorism prevention should not oppress civilian’s rights and instead be conducted through a soft approach.

“The program should include preventive approaches through coordination with community and neighborhood units, particularly those in terrorism-prone areas. I’ve never heard of the BNPT going directly to people, embracing them while discussing pluralism,” Daeng said.

Muhammadiyah is of the opinion that the government should renew legal aspects and approaches in dealing with terrorism.

“[There should be] preventive measures to handle the issue,” Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir said during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the defense ministry on state defense, on Wednesday.

“The government should have legal standing in eradicating terrorism, pay more attention to human rights issues, create a strategy to communicate with people and have a complete map of radical movements in the country,” he added.

BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Tito Karnavian said the House should accelerate the deliberation of an amendment to the Terrorism Law and insert a point that granted the BNPT a stronger baseline to arrange strategies and policy-making in the counterterrorism agenda. To optimize deradicalization programs and antiterror mitigation, Tito said, his agency needed a larger budget, proposing around Rp 826 billion (US$62.78 million) for 2017, higher than the Rp 331 billion it received this year.

“The additional funds are to be used for counterterrorism programs, such as establishing a crisis center and cyberpatrol, because terrorist nowadays operate through the internet rather than telephone.”
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